Highland County grand jury indicts 8 in April 2 session
A Highland County grand jury handed down eight indictments, including charging three individuals with second-degree felony counts, during their Tuesday, April 2 session.
Ray Cooper, 29, of Greenfield, and Dustin Chaney, 41, of Hillsboro, were charged jointly with trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, a second-degree felony; and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a second-degree felony. Cooper was separately charged with one count of tampering with evidence, third-degree felony.
It is alleged that on or about Feb. 13 in Highland and Montgomery counties, Cooper and Chaney “did knowingly obtain, possess or use,” and “did knowingly prepare for shipment, ship, transport, deliver, prepare for distribution or distribute” a fentanyl-related compound in an amount equal to or exceeding 10 grams but less than 20 grams.
On the same date, it is alleged that Cooper “did, knowing that an official proceeding or investigation was in progress or was about to be or likely to be instituted, did alter or destroy, conceal or remove a record or document or thing with the purpose to impair its value or availability as evidence in such proceeding or investigation.”
In an unrelated case, Riley Richards, 22, of Chillicothe was charged with one count of burglary, a second-degree felony; one count of safecracking, a fourth-degree felony; and one count of grand theft, a fourth-degree felony.
It is alleged that during a period in May 2023, Richards “did by force, stealth or deception knowingly trespass in an occupied structure, or in a separately secured or separately occupied portion of an occupied structure that is the permanent or temporary habitation of [a victim], when [the victim] or any person other than an accomplice of the offender is present or likely to be present with purpose to commit in the habitation a criminal offense.”
During that same time frame, it is alleged that Richards “did, with purpose to commit an offense, knowingly enter, force an entrance into or tamper with a vault, safe or strongbox.” Richards is finally accused of “knowingly obtaining or exerting control over” $9,300 from the victim.
In other indictments:
• Jason Lee Bond, 45, of Greenfield was charged with two counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle, both fourth-degree felonies.
The charges stem from two separate alleged incidents in February. On or about Feb. 9, Bond is accused of “knowingly obtaining or exerting control over” a Dodge Avenger without its owner’s consent. On or about Feb. 29, it is alleged that Bond also “knowingly obtained or exerted control over” a Chevrolet Monte Carlo without its owner’s consent.
• Richard Penn, 50, of Latham, was charged with one count of receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony. It is alleged that on or about March 9, Penn “did receive, retain or dispose of” a Dodge Avenger belonging to another individual while “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe said property had been obtained through the commission of a theft offense.”
• Shawna Willey, 29, of Hillsboro was charged with failure to appear, a fourth-degree felony, in connection with a meth possession case in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
• Bobby Harrington, 36, of Hillsboro was charged with one count of aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a fifth-degree felony.
• Waylon James Stratton, 33, of Leesburg was indicted on five counts of rape, all first-degree felonies, in a superseding indictment.
As previously reported, Stratton was indicted in March. The first three counts of the indictment are under the same statute of the Ohio Revised Code, 2907.02(A)(1)(b), which specifies that the victim was allegedly “less than 13 years of age, whether or not the offender knows the age of the other person,” at the time of the alleged offenses. Those three charges cover three separate time periods where “sexual conduct” is alleged to have taken place between Stratton and a juvenile victim.
Counts four and five of Stratton’s indictment are under 2907.02(A)(2), which is for “sexual conduct with another when the offender purposely compels the other person to submit by force or threat of force.” Those two counts also cover two separate time periods where it is alleged that Stratton “purposely compelled” a victim to “engage in sexual conduct.”
The superseding indictments added the stipulation that the alleged conduct occurred in Highland County for counts four and five.
An indictment is merely a charge and is not evidence of guilt.
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