Man gets 18 months in prison for felony OVI

July 29, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Jeffrey Reynolds said all the right things Thursday as he was awaiting sentencing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for a felony OVI charge.

But Judge Shirley J. Christian said she has heard the talk too many times to count. She said when she looked at his record, she saw he had many chances to avail himself of alcohol treatment but never completed any program.

That was the deciding factor to sentence him to 18 months in prison, Judge Christian told the 49-year-old Reynolds of Leetonia.

“You just have not taken advantage of all the opportunities the courts have given you,” Judge Christian told him. “It makes no sense to me. To me, that’s the definition of insanity; you do something over and over and you expect a different result.”

Reynolds was arrested April 1 on Meridian Road by a trooper from the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Assistant Prosecutor Nick Brevetta asked for 18 months and said that the offense is Reynolds’ sixth OVI in 20 years, one of two crtieria for an OVI to be charged as a felony. The other criteria is if it is a person’s fourth OVI within six years.

Columbiana County Municipal Court records show 25 criminal or traffic cases filed against Reynolds, with an OVI case as far back as 1993 that court records then showed was a second offense. In Columbiana County Common Pleas Court, Reynolds was sentenced to a year in prison in August 2014 for an OVI offense.

Reynolds told the judge he realizes he needs help for his drinking problem. He said all of his legal problems over the years are because of alcohol.

“I do need some help. I really do. And I know this now,” Reynolds said. “I’ve finally admitted I’m powerless over alcohol.”

Reynolds said he has attended AA meetings before and has also gone to substance-abuse counseling. He asked Judge Christian to send him somewhere so he can get help for his drinking.

“I’ve been trying to help myself,” Reynolds said. “I ask if you can send me someplace where I can get some help. This is tearing me up. I’ve got grandkids. I don’t want them to see me like this.”

Judge Christian named at least three programs in the past that Reynolds was enrolled in and never completed. She also noted that even though he has a 99 years-to-life license suspension, he continues driving.

She also gave Reynolds a suspension and ordered him to complete substance-abuse counseling as part of his sentence.