YOUNGSTOWN Probation violation lands man back in jail

The defendant also 'operated outside the range of house arrest,' a judge said.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Joseph L. Sanders, who hasn't followed any of the court orders issued since he received a suspended jail sentence on a gun conviction in July, is back in jail again.
Sanders, 31, of Dryden Avenue, was arraigned Wednesday via video in municipal court. Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. had issued a warrant Sept. 10, when Sanders failed to appear in court to be sentenced on a probation violation.
Judge Douglas said Sanders also "operated outside the range of house arrest" while waiting to be sentenced. He was arrested at 10 p.m. Tuesday when spotted by police on Delaware Avenue near Clyde Street on the North Side; his home is on the East Side.
Sanders remains in jail on a new bond of $25,000 cash or surety. His new sentencing date for violating probation is Oct. 14.
Sanders was arrested in July as part of the Gun Reduction Interdiction Project. At arraignment July 7, he pleaded no contest to carrying a concealed weapon.
Sentence
Judge Douglas sentenced Sanders to 90 days in jail, suspended 87 and gave him credit for three days served. The judge fined Sanders $100 and placed him on nine months' probation.
The light sentence drew criticism from U.S. Attorney Greg White and others who participated in GRIP.
Sanders never signed up for probation, a warrant was issued and he was arrested Aug. 21, with bond set at $5,000. Sanders' lawyer, Charles Curry, said his client was scared that he'd be rearrested if he showed up for probation because of the publicity the gun case had received. Sanders had heard people on talk radio saying he should be rearrested.
Sanders stayed in jail until Aug. 27, when Judge Douglas modified the $5,000 bond to electronically monitored house arrest. Sanders went home, having earned credit for an additional eight days served in jail.
What monitor recorded
Once hooked up to the electronic monitor, Sanders, from the first day, never abided by the order to stay home, said Phil Sekola, director at Mid-America Court Services in Liberty. The electronic monitor recorded "ins and outs continually," he said.
"We called him numerous times to tell him he was in violation but he never took the calls," Sekola said. "We notified the court by phone, then by fax."
At Sanders' sentencing this month, Judge Douglas could impose the jail time he suspended on the gun conviction.
The judge may also consider Sanders' violation of house arrest as escape, Sekola said.
meade@vindy.com