Georgetown man sentenced to over 5 years in prison for Highland County case, judicial sanction
A Georgetown man was sentenced to three years in prison recently and ordered to serve additional time for violating terms of post-release control after pleading guilty to two charges in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
As previously reported, Derek Marsh, 36, of Georgetown was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in August and was charged with aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, a second-degree felony; aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a second-degree felony; and failure to comply with order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony.
According to court records, Marsh pleaded guilty to the possession and failure to comply charges Sept. 25, with the trafficking charge dismissed.
Both of those two counts stemmed from an alleged incident on or about June 24, according to a bill of particulars. Officers with the Highland County Sheriff’s Office attempted to make a traffic stop on a vehicle occupied by Marsh. It is alleged that Marsh evaded deputies and drove around the Rocky Fork Lake area “at speeds in excess of 110 miles per hour.” That included Marsh allegedly ignoring traffic control devices, passing vehicles on the road and driving in the wrong lane of travel.
According to the bill of particulars, Marsh was arrested when officers found him attempting to “gain entry into the back door” of a Highland County business. At that location, Marsh attempted to flee on foot, but he was tased multiple times and eventually complied, the bill of particulars says.
At the time of his arrest, Marsh allegedly had “a small clear baggie in his left pocket,” and its contents were later determined to contain 22.39 grams of meth.
Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Marsh to a mandatory two years on the drug possession count, consecutive to one year on the failure to comply charge, for a total of three years in prison. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, Marsh could serve up to four years in prison in this case. He had jail time credit of 91 days.
In addition, Marsh was under post-release control at the time of the alleged offense and was ordered to serve 777 days in prison as a judicial sanction, according to court records.
Marsh’s driver’s license was also ordered to be suspended for three years, court records show.
Marsh is incarcerated in the Mansfield Correctional Institution, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
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