Columbus Grove resident Joseph Chandler was sentenced Friday in Putnam County Common Pleas Court to 2.5 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl.
Charlotte Caldwell | The Lima News
OTTAWA — A Columbus Grove man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Friday in the Putnam County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty in September to two third-degree felony counts of fentanyl trafficking.
Joseph Chandler, 39, was also ordered to pay restitution of $2,770 to local law enforcement.
Chandler’s attorney, James Haughn, said Chandler doesn’t deny he has a lengthy history in the court system and has a “history of abuse that he needs some help with.”
Judge Keith Schierloh listed Chandler’s offenses dating back to 2003, including multiple theft and burglary charges, a drug charge and community control violations.
“I just make bad decisions when I’m strung out on drugs,” Chandler said. “Everything I’ve ever done is drug-related.”
Chandler received two and a half years in prison on each count, and Schierloh made the prison terms run at the same time rather than back to back because he received a letter from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office saying Chandler performed 382.75 hours of work as a trustee while he’s been in jail.
Schierloh said he also considered a four-year prison term but another factor that played into the decision was on both charges Chandler sold drugs to the same confidential informant.
The charges stem from a pair of incidents in August of 2023 when Chandler on two separate occasions sold a fentanyl-related compound to a confidential informant used by law enforcement. Through his guilty pleas, Chandler admitted selling 5.9 grams of the drug to the informant on Aug. 16 and 5.04 grams on Aug. 31 in Columbus Grove.
In September, when asked by Schierloh to explain his actions, Chandler said he was approached by the informant on more than one occasion to provide him with drugs.
“This guy hit me up to sell him some drugs. I was strung out (on drugs) myself at the time and figured I could make a few bucks,” Chandler told the judge, adding that he and the informant drove to Lima to pick up the fentanyl.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
