Disappointment in appellate court ruling voiced during resentencing hearing

J Swygart, The Lima News, Ohio
·2 min read

Jun. 29—LIMA — An Allen County man convicted by a jury in 2020 on a charge of felonious assault with a firearm specification was back in court Thursday after the Ohio Third District Court of Appeals cited errors in his sentence.

Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed in June of 2022 sentenced Michael Sheets to a non-mandatory five-year prison sentence that included three years for a firearm specification. The appellate court reviewed the case and determined that Reed did not follow case law as established in Ohio v. Wolfe that outlines situations in which mandatory sentencing must be imposed. Sheets' case met those guidelines, resulting in the need for a resentencing hearing Thursday.

The judge, along with attorney Steve Chamberlain of the Allen County Public Defenders Office, publicly stated their disagreement with the Third District court's ruling, but Reed said he was obligated to follow the court's decision.

"While this court does not agree, I am bound to follow the Wolfe ruling," Reed said.

Chamberlain said he disagreed "vehemently" with the Third District Court and called the case a "procedural quagmire" which "could have been handled much more cleanly."

Sheets' conviction was the result of a domestic dispute during which Sheets shot his daughter's boyfriend in the leg during a day of drinking.

Sheets, allowed the opportunity to speak before a new sentence was imposed, claimed he was the victim of "prosecutorial misconduct" after his self-defense claims were not permitted to be heard by jurors.

Reed corrected Sheets, saying the judge — not prosecutors — rule on the admission of evidence.

The new sentence handed down calls for Sheets to serve a mandatory minimum of two years on the felonious assault charge, to be served following and consecutive to the three-year firearm specification. Because of the mandatory nature of the sentence, Sheets is not eligible to seek a judicial release.

Chamberlain said the new sentence will be appealed.