On Friday, October 19 Judge Otho Eyster in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas sentenced three men for various felony crimes according to Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher.

Jerimiah J. Parks, 19, Utica, was convicted of two counts of vandalism and one count of assault for using a BB gun to shoot out the windows and otherwise damage over 40 vehicles on March 1 and 2, and for shooting a 19 year old man in the parking lot of a store in Mount Vernon. Parks was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and he was ordered to pay over $7,000.00 in restitution to the crime victims. Thatcher said on March 1 and 2, the Mount Vernon Police Department took over 40 reports of unknown persons shooting at vehicles with either a BB gun or pellet gun. On March 1 Patrolman Travis Tharp of the MVPD obtained store surveillance videotape and store receipts showing three white males purchasing 4,000 BB’s and 25 CO2 cartridges and then leaving the store in a red or maroon Ford Escort. On March 2 the MVPD received a report of a shooting in a store parking lot at approximately 7:40 p.m. The victim of the shooting stated he was shot with a BB gun by a white male passenger in a red Ford Escort after the victim signaled to the driver of the Escort that the Escort’s headlights were not turned on. At approximately 1:15 a.m. on March 3 a red Ford Escort traveling northbound on State Route 13 was stopped by Trooper Paul Shore of the State Highway Patrol for a defective exhaust. Patrolmen Andrew Burns and Roger Monroe of the MVPD arrived at the scene to assist Trooper Shore. The MVPD officers obtained consent to search the vehicle and they seized a 4,000 count BB container, a second bottle of BB’s and 13 CO2 cartridges. Further investigation revealed that Parks and two co-defendants were responsible for the vehicle damage and the shooting in the store parking lot. Detective Corporal Matt Dailey and Detective Craig Feeney of the MVPD completed the investigation. Thatcher said Parks’ co-defendants have already been convicted and sentenced.

Steven A. Ressler, 44, was convicted of one count of theft for receiving $3,650.00 from a Centerburg resident, in May 2006, for house repairs that he never performed. Ressler was sentenced to six months in prison. Thatcher said Ressler’s family paid restitution to the victim, in July 2007. Deputy Max Huffman of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Joshua A. Watkins, 18, Walhonding, was convicted on charges of complicity to commit burglary and two counts of receiving stolen property. Watkins was ordered to serve a three year term of community control supervision including paying $948.00 to the crime victim, undergoing a drug and alcohol assessment and use monitoring and maintaining full time employment. Watkins will serve a 15 month prison sentence if he violates any term of his community control supervision. Thatcher said, on February 19, a Northview Drive, Mount Vernon, resident reported to Deputy Dan Selby of the KCSO that his home had been broken into and his handgun and laptop computer were missing. Watkins and a co-defendant admitted to Deputy Selby that they broke into the residence and took the handgun and laptop computer.