Chillicothe man sentenced in Highland County receiving stolen property case
A Chillicothe man was sentenced recently to six months in prison, plus a judicial sanction for an unrelated case, after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property in Highland County.
Joseph Bender, 42, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in October and charged with receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony; aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a fifth-degree felony; and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth-degree felony. According to court records, Bender pleaded guilty to the receiving stolen property charge in January, with the drug possession charges dismissed.
For the receiving stolen property charge, the indictment alleged that on or about Aug. 1, 2024, Bender “did receive, retain or dispose of” a motor vehicle belonging to another individual while “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe said property had been obtained through the commission of a theft offense.”
Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Bender to six months in prison, with jail time credit of 51 days. Bender was also ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the victim.
Coss made an additional finding that Bender was under post-release control for an unrelated case at the time of this alleged offense. Bender previously pleaded in 2021 to failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony. Coss ordered Bender to serve 997 days in prison consecutive to the six-month sentence in the 2024 case.
Bender is currently incarcerated in the North Central Correctional Institution, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
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