Harsher penalties sought in Ohio for repeat nonviolent felony convicts
WARREN — A Trumbull County man, who has been arrested 69 times and imprisoned four times, is headed back to prison for another stretch behind bars for only two years following his July 14 sentencing. The sentence was the maximum allowed by Ohio law because Ohio has eliminated habitual criminal statutes and many repeat-offender escalation of penalties provisions during the long tenure of Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins. Watkins has assigned Trumbull County First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker and Chief of the Criminal Division Mike Burnett to propose legislation ...