YOUNGSTOWN Judge sentences woman to probation in burglary

The woman must continue counseling for her drug addiction while on probation.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Michelle Longmire pulled a disappearing act that landed her in court, facing a prison sentence.
She didn't rely on any tricks, though, to keep from getting locked up. Instead, it was her eloquence that prompted the judge to sentence her to probation instead of prison.
"You are very impressive," Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of common pleas court said to Longmire. He sentenced her Friday to three years' probation and ordered her to continue drug abuse counseling at Community Corrections Association on Market Street.
Pleaded guilty
Longmire, 31, of Truesdale Avenue, pleaded guilty in April to burglary and escape. At the time, she admitted a 14-year history of drug and alcohol abuse.
At the request of her attorney, Mark Lavelle, Judge Krichbaum ordered Longmire to check into CCA's residential treatment program while a pre-sentence background check was done. Longmire said the help she got there has made all the difference for her.
"I don't want anything to do with drugs any more," she said, sobbing. "To be clean and sober, to have that feeling inside, is a joy."
Looking back at her past makes her ashamed, she said. Looking ahead, she intends to complete her GED, then go to college to study art.
The burglary
Police caught Longmire in February coming out of a house some two blocks from her own, carrying a Sony PlayStation under her coat. She told police she planned to sell it for drug money.
While she sat handcuffed and unattended in a cruiser, she slipped her hands out of the cuffs, then pushed open a sliding window that separates the car's front and back seats. Police had gone back into the house to finish their investigation.
Longmire squirmed through the opening into the front seat and got out a front door, resulting in the escape charge.
"It was a Houdini-type situation," Lavelle said.
Longmire was on the loose for nearly a week before being caught.
bjackson@vindy.com