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Hillsboro man pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter

By
Caitlin Forsha, The Highland County Press

A Hillsboro man was sentenced to six years in prison Monday afternoon, after pleading guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in a case involving the death of an area teenager.

As previously reported, Joseph Dylan Houser, 24, was indicted Dec. 5 on involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony; aggravated trafficking in drugs, a fourth-degree felony; trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth-degree felony; and possession of a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth-degree felony. The case was initially made secret.

Houser pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in Highland County Common Pleas Court to the involuntary manslaughter charge, with the remaining charges dismissed.

The indictment alleged that on or about Feb. 3-4, Houser “did cause the death” of a victim “as a proximate result of [Houser] committing or attempting to commit a felony, to wit: corrupting another with drugs and aggravated trafficking in drugs.”

“This is what I’ll call a tragic case where the defendant sold to a 16-year-old victim what was believed to be a Percocet pill,” Highland County Assistant Prosecutor Adam King told Judge Rocky Coss during the plea hearing. “It actually contained fentanyl, and after ingesting the pill, the victim passed away.”

Nearly the entire courtroom was full for the hearing, with members of the victim’s family and many friends seated throughout the room.

After explaining Houser’s rights and accepting his guilty plea, Coss proceeded with sentencing. King advised that the parties had agreed to a six-year recommended sentence. He said that the victim’s family didn’t necessarily “approve of the agreement,” but that they were “understanding of” it. (As was brought out during the hearing, the law provides for a minimum sentence of three years, up to a maximum of 11 years, for the charge.)

Highland County Victim Witness Director Heather Collins read a prepared statement on behalf of the significant other of the victim’s father. She characterized the victim as “kind,” “caring,” "“fun” and “silly.” She said that the family’s “hearts will break as we look at” the empty chair at the victim’s high school graduation.

The victim’s mother then addressed the court, as she spoke about the “ornery, curious 16-year-old” who was loving, friendly, respectful and caring, enjoyed making others laugh and often spent lunch money to feed other classmates.

“‘[The victim] wanted to save the world, even if it was one person at a time,” the mother said.

The mother said that her child “made a mistake,” but “we all did dumb things at 16. That’s part of growing up and learning. It shouldn’t have cost [the victim’s] life.

“This past year, we should have been ordering a cap and gown and other senior things,” she said. “Instead, we ordered a casket and headstone.”

She also spoke to Houser directly. 

“I hope you never have to go through what we have over this last year,” she told Houser. “Six years is not enough for the future you took. I hope that your child never has to face the same predicament that my child did, and I hope you never have to bury your child.”

Houser’s attorney, JD Wagoner, offered condolences to the family on his own behalf as well as on behalf of Houser.

“I’m sincerely, sincerely sorry,” Wagoner said. “Taking the legalese out of this, Your Honor, this case just sucks. A young man’s life was lost from a stupid mistake.”

However, Wagoner said that Houser has “not tried to shift blame” to the victim.

“He immediately took responsibility,” Wagoner said. “I know it doesn’t bring [the victim] back, but it means a little, at least in my eyes, that this guy is admitting to his wrongdoing. He’s willing to do his time. I know that the time that he does will not bring [the victim] back.”

Coss offered Houser a chance to speak, and the defendant turned to face the victim’s loved ones as he did so.

“I’m sincerely sorry,” Houser said. “This wasn’t supposed to be the outcome.”

Prior to sentencing, Coss said the case was “a tragic example of what is going on in today’s world with substance use disorder and abuse.

“We see more and more, almost none of the drugs being sold on the street are what they say they are,” Coss said. “These things are deadly.

“We all make life and death choices in our lives. That shouldn’t be the case when you’re 16. When you’re 16 years of age, choices you make shouldn’t be of life and death, but unfortunately, with today’s world and all the information that you kids and all you folks here have, you’re exposed to a lot more temptation and danger than people my age were growing up.”

Coss encouraged those in the courtroom to use the victim’s memory as motivation to “carry on in your lives doing what you can in your community, with your friends, to make kids stop taking drugs.

“I hope that all of you will consider what it is you can do to make sure this doesn’t happen again because, unfortunately, it will, until our community, our world, our people in this country, get to the point where they can deal with life without taking drugs,” Coss said. 

The judge also expressed sympathy to the victim’s loved ones. 

“The fact that you’re all here is extremely impressive about what kind of person (the victim) was,” Coss said. “It’s just tragic. It’s really hard to sit here and hear [the facts of the case] for anyone.

“Nothing I can do can bring [the victim] back. Nothing I can do with a sentence would represent adequately the loss that the parents have suffered, and all of you that were [the victim’s] friends and family.”

Coss then sentenced Houser to a minimum of six years in prison. As noted by the judge, that sentence could be up to nine years under the Reagan Tokes Law. Houser had 54 days of jail time credit.