Teen's 1-Year Term for Judge Threat is What He Wanted, Counsel Says
A troubled Ohio teenager has been sentenced to a one-year prison term for sending a threatening letter to a Licking County juvenile judge last year punctuated with his own blood.
But Corey Spears, 16, wanted to be sentenced in adult court, his lawyer says. That’s because the one year term in adult prison is actually less time that he would likely have to serve in juvenile detention, where he could be held until he is 21, reports the Advocate. Incarcerated in the juvenile system since 2005 for motor vehicle grand theft, he has racked up additional time for various infractions and has “assaulted between 25 and 30 people in Department of Youth Services’ facilities,” the article states.
Spears pleaded guilty today to two third-degree felonies, intimidation and retaliation, and harassment with a bodily substance, a fifth-degree felony, concerning a two-page letter he sent last year to Juvenile Common Pleas Judge Robert Hoover. It included specific threats to blow up the courthouse, while he and Hoover were inside, and to harm Hoover’s family, the newspaper reports.
Common Pleas Judge Jon Spahr sentenced Spears, advising him to “look around and see if you want to make this a part of your life” while in adult prison. With credit for time served, he should be out in less than nine months.
