A Columbus woman was sentenced to a prison term of at least 59 months last week in Highland County Common Pleas Court
Madilynn Arnett, 19, was sentenced on three counts for two separate cases. She was sentenced to tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, for the first case; and felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and a forfeiture specification for the second case.
According to court records, for tampering with evidence, Arnett was sentenced to a definite term of 11 months at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. That sentence will run consecutive to (or one after the other) the second case that saw Arnett sentenced to a definite prison term of four years and a maximum sentence of six years.
According to court records, the consecutive sentences were instituted because they were necessary to “protect the public from future crime” or punish Arnett, and because the consecutive sentences were not disproportionate to the seriousness of her conduct and the danger she posed to the public.
The entry also said the court found that:
* Arnett committed one or more of the multiple offenses while she was awaiting trial or sentencing, was under a sanction already imposed, or was under post-release control for a previous offense.
* At least two of the multiple offenses were committed as part of one or more of the acts of conduct and the harm caused by two or more of them were so great or unusual that a single prison term for any of them committed as part of the courses of conduct “adequately” reflected the seriousness of Arnett’s conduct.
According to court records, on Aug. 14, 2020, an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper was on patrol on S.R. 753 in Madison Township, Highland County, when they saw a dark-colored vehicle that was driving at a high rate of speed. The trooper activated radar and looked and found the vehicle to be traveling 75 mph in a 55-mph zone. The trooper identified the vehicle as a black Chrysler as it drove past him.
The trooper turned the patrol vehicle around and got behind the black Chrysler. When the trooper was behind the vehicle, he activated his overhead lights on the patrol vehicle to start a traffic stop, and the Chrysler came to a stop. The trooper approached the vehicle and identified the driver and then the passenger as Madilynn Arnett. The trooper asked if there was anything illegal inside of the vehicle and both subjects said there was not, according to court records.
The trooper told the driver of the Chrysler that someone with a valid driver’s license had to pick the two subjects up because neither had a valid license. Eventually the driver’s father arrived. After the trooper wrote the citation, he approached the vehicle to explain the situation to the driver. The driver’s father entered the driver’s seat of the vehicle, the former driver moved to the front passenger seat and Arnett was in the rear of the vehicle, court records state.
Around that time the trooper detected a strong odor of raw marijuana coming from inside of the vehicle. The trooper asked the Arnett and the original driver if anybody had a medical marijuana card or if hemp was inside the Chrysler, and the subjects said they did not. The trooper then requested another unit to assist and explained to the people inside the vehicle that the trooper was going to search the Chrysler, according to court records.
The trooper had all three of the people inside of the vehicle step out. The trooper frisked the driver and Arnett for weapons and then put them in the back of the patrol vehicle. The trooper didn’t find any contraband in their vehicle search. After the search was finished, the trooper had the original driver and Arnett exit the patrol vehicle. Both said they didn’t have any contraband on them. The trooper then allowed all three of the subjects to return to their vehicle and leave, according to court records.
When the trooper returned to the patrol vehicle, he detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the patrol vehicle. The trooper then looked at the video footage from inside the patrol vehicle from when the driver and Arnett were in the back seat. He saw that Arnett hid contraband inside her pants while she sat in the back of the patrol vehicle, court records state.
According to the indictment from for the first count against Arnett, on or around Jan. 21, 2021, and in Highland County, she knowingly caused or attempted to cause physical harm to someone by means of a deadly weapon: Kel Tec 9 mm.
For the second count, the indictment said that on or around Jan. 21, 2021, and in Highland County, Arnett possessed a Kel Tec 9 mm, a holster and a clip subject to forfeiture because of its “instrumentality in the commissioner or facilitation of the offense.”
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
