BOARDMAN Drug offense hits close to home

Trafficking in drugs could not be proved, an assistant prosecutor said.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Residents in a neighborhood of mostly professionals rested comfortably in the fact that the township police chief, a county common pleas court judge and the director of a local alcohol and drug agency called the neighborhood home.
One couple who also called the Quail Court neighborhood home were growing marijuana in the basement of their house, close to the residences of Boardman Police Chief Jeffrey Patterson and Judge Jack Durkin. The Pattersons live on one side of the couple, and the Durkins lived on the other side.
Dave Schaffer, executive director of the Mahoning County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board, and his wife, Lori, also live nearby.
The chief's wife, Carolyn Patterson, and Lori Schaffer are upset that the couple avoided jail and were sentenced to probation and community control after being convicted of drug charges.
Carolyn Patterson said she watched for months as various cars would come and go from the home of neighbors Kenneth and Rose-Marie Bartholomew on Quail Court. She said a man was once seen sitting on the roof of the home smoking what she believes was marijuana.
Lori Schaffer said she had noticed traffic to and from the house in the six years since she has lived in the area and said the situation has been frustrating.
Judge Durkin, who has since moved out of the neighborhood, could not be reached to comment.
Home raided
In April 2002, members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raided the Bartholomews' home.
Doug Lamplugh, DEA agent in Youngstown, said officers took 25 marijuana plants and six pounds of marijuana out of the home. Officers also confiscated three pistols, a rifle and other items.
"We have no direct evidence that he was selling it, but that is an awful lot of weight,", said Lamplugh.
Dennis Sarisky, Mahoning County assistant prosecutor, said the Bartholomews were initially charged with felony trafficking, but the charge was reduced through a plea agreement to attempted trafficking and attempted cultivation, both lower-level felonies.
Last week, visiting Judge Charles Bannon, in place of Judge Robert Lisotto of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, sentenced Kenneth Bartholomew to three years' community control, meaning he will have to report to parole authorities and undergo routine drug testing. Rose-Marie Bartholomew received one year of probation.
Sarisky said Kenneth Bartholomew could face up to 36 months in jail if he violates the terms set by the Ohio Parole Authority.
Questioning sentences
Carolyn Patterson said she and others in the neighborhood are left to wonder how the Bartholomews could live in close proximity to a police chief, judge and drug rehabilitation board director with marijuana growing in their home and not see the inside of a jail cell.
She said not enough criminals are put behind bars in Mahoning County.
"We are glad that something has been done, but I am afraid that people in the neighborhood will say, 'This is it, this is all he got?'" she said. "If these people, who live in this house and grew pot and sold it cannot go to jail in Mahoning County, then nobody can."
Sarisky said the sentence was fair considering the evidence against the Bartholomews. He agrees that there was a high volume of traffic on top of the recovered marijuana but said the state did not have enough evidence to prove the Bartholomews were selling the marijuana.
The sentence was given as recommended by the prosecutor in the plea agreement.
Sarisky said if Kenneth Bartholomew had a criminal record "he would have been going to prison, but he didn't have a prior record, and neither did she. There is every indication that this was personal use with his admittance of a drug problem."
jgoodwin@vindy.com