Judge sentences Toledo man to six months for falsification

STRUTHERS -- A Toledo man will spend the next six months behind bars after fabricating reports of a rape and shooting in Lowellville.
Judge James R. Lanzo sentenced Josh Douglas Liechty, 21, to 180 days in jail and one year's probation and fined him $100 plus costs for falsification.
He also sentenced Liechty to 180 days in jail and one year's probation and fined him $100 plus costs for driving a 1993 Ford Explorer belonging to a Wauseon, Ohio, woman without her consent, and gave him 180 days in jail, one year's probation, $100 in fines plus costs for driving under suspension. All three sentences are to be served concurrently.
Lowellville police arrested Liechty on Jan. 1 after he stopped an officer and told him that a woman was being raped in a car a few blocks away from the high school football field.
Moments later, he told a second officer that he had come to Lowellville to buy drugs with a man he met recently, that he'd gotten scared, and drove off after his acquaintance got into a car where two gunshots were fired.
The vehicle Liechty was driving had been reported stolen. When police asked about the vehicle, he told them it belonged to his estranged girlfriend.
Liechty also told police his name was Aaron Jakeway and produced a driver's license with the fictitious name. Police found his real license after he was transported to the Mahoning County Jail.
Initially, Liechty was charged with receiving stolen property, which was amended to driving without consent, tampering with evidence, falsification, obstructing official business and driving under suspension.
He was given credit for the seven days in jail he served awaiting trial.