Greenfield man sentenced to community control in firearm case

A Greenfield man was sentenced recently to community control after pleading guilty to improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle earlier this year.

Kyle Mathews, 21, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in June and charged with improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony; and a forfeiture specification.

According to a bill of particulars, a sheriff’s deputy pulled over a vehicle driven by Mathews on April 29. Mathews was allegedly found to have a loaded 9mm handgun in the center console of the vehicle. 

The bill of particulars alleges that Mathews told officers he “had been in possession of the firearm for several weeks” despite not being “old enough to legally possess a firearm.”

Mathews pleaded guilty to both counts in the indictment July 30. During a hearing Sept. 9, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Mathews to three years of community control and ordered him to successfully complete substance use disorder treatment and recommended aftercare. The 9mm handgun was ordered forfeited to the Highland County Sheriff’s Office.

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