A Palmyra man whose attorney and victim both said drug addiction drove him to steal from others last year recently was sentenced to three years in prison for breaking into a Ravenna Township residence in September 2012.
Ryan A. Heavner, 22, formerly of 4667 S.R. 225, pleaded guilty to burglary, a second-degree felony, on Jan. 15, and faced two to eight years in prison as a sentence. Despite Heavner's addiction, Enlow still imposed one year more than the minimum sentence for the crime, finding that because Heavner was on probation when the burglary occurred, probation was "just not appropriate."
The charge arose from a Sept. 23, 2012, burglary in the 6300 block of Bramley Road in Ravenna Township. Enlow also ordered Heavner to pay restitution of $2,490 to the victim, Ralph Harner.
Heavner's defense attorney, Portage County Public Defender Dennis Lager, also said his client's "criminal conduct was spawned by virtue of his drug addiction."
Harner told Enlow he believed Heavner's crime had "more to do with substance abuse" than anything else.
"If he were to get clean, you'd see a good person inside," Harner said, asking the judge for leniency on Heavner during a victim impact statement in court.
Enlow also revoked Heavner's probation, due to expire in November 2017, on a conviction for theft from the elderly, a fourth-degree felony. He imposed a one-year prison term in that case, concurrent to the three-year prison term for the burglary.
On Feb. 19, the Portage County Adult Probation Department reported to the court that Heavner failed to refrain from using heroin and cocaine and failed to report police contact to his probation officer, both violations of the terms of his probation for stealing a credit card from a Ravenna resident, according to court records.
Follow Dave O'Brien on Twitter at @RCCrimeWatch
Contact this reporter at 330-298-1128
or dobrien@recordpub.com
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