Man gets extended prison stay after trespassing into home, picking up 7th OVI
NEW PHILADELPHIA – A man who frightened a woman and five children she was watching by entering a Sugarcreek area home uninvited back in July will have an extended stay in prison.
Justin M. Heston, 34, formerly of the Newcomerstown area, is already in the Grafton Correctional Institute, about eight months into a two-year sentence for a 2022 OVI conviction. A Tuscarawas County judge added another year onto his prison term this week after Heston pleaded guilty to charges related to the July incident.
According to Tuscarawas County Sheriff Captain Adam Fisher, Heston, apparently under the influence of some substance, entered the Old Zimmerman Road home on July 1 and made it to the second floor as the woman and children hid behind a locked door.
After he left on his own, deputies found Heston not far away. Fisher says he admitted to drinking, and deputies found drugs in the vehicle.
“It would seem highly likely that Justin Heston entered this residence while intoxicated on some form of substance but didn’t necessarily have any intent on burglarizing or harming anybody in the home,” Fisher said.
Heston was indicted and this week sentenced on felony counts of Trespass in a Habitation When a Person is Present or Likely to be Present; Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol, a Drug of Abuse or a Combination of Them-OVI; and Aggravated Possession of Drugs.
This most recent conviction is Heston’s seventh for driving or operating a vehicle under the influence, according to court documents.
In addition to extending his prison stay by 12 months, Judge Elizabeth Thomakos fined Heston $1,350 and suspended his license for 10 years.
Heston had been on parole at the time of the crimes. Following Heston’s arrest in July, Thomakos revoked his parole and sent him to prison.