Greene County attorney Thomas Laehn is continuing his effort to let people know that Greene County isn’t a place to run afoul of the law.
Not only are offenders more likely to serve time behind bars than before Laehn took over as prosecutor in January, but at least one offender who thought he could bypass prison time has learned differently.
Last week two Greene County deputies drove to Canton, OH, and arrested Justin Emmick, 28, formerly of Jefferson. He’s now in an Iowa prison serving a 10-year prison term for delivery of a controlled substance, concurrent to a five-year term for theft-second degree.
“We want to make it clear that people can’t avoid prison by fleeing. It would undercut whatever deterrent effect prison has if people thought they could just flee between sentencing and showing up at prison,” Laehn told the county supervisors Monday.
“We’ll evaluate cases, depending on the seriousness of the offense, and how far we’re willing to travel to find these people. They’re on our radar,” he said.
“I appreciate everything (sheriff) Jack (Williams) is doing to send the message that we’re not going to tolerate that sort of behavior,” he added.
Emmick has a 10-year history with Greene County law enforcement. He was charged with delivery of a controlled substance – a prescription stimulant – in November 2008, while he was a senior at Jefferson-Scranton high school.
He had been in the show choir and on the swim team, and he worked as a lifeguard at the municipal pool. In May 2009, in the senior interview published by the school newspaper, he advised younger students, “Don’t make the mistake of taking one good step forward and two steps back because you’re always remembered by what you did the most, whether it’s positive or negative.”
He pleaded guilty to the charge in July 2009 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, Judge William Ostlund granted him a deferred judgment and placed on probation for two years.
He didn’t take advantage of the second chance he was given, and instead took two steps back.
Just four months later Emmick was charged with theft-second degree after conspiring with a teenage employee at Peep’s Stop (now Oly’s Corner) to report an armed robbery when, in fact, it was Emmick who had the missing money. He eventually pleaded guilty to the charge and in April 2010 he was sentenced to five years in prison. The prison term was suspended and he was placed on probation for three years, with the condition that he live in a Department of Corrections residential facility until maximum benefit was attained.
At the same time, the deferred judgment in the first case was revoked and he was again sentenced to 10 years in prison. The prison term was suspended and he was placed on probation for three years.
Emmick successfully finished the residential treatment program in August 2010. In July 2011 his probation officer reported six probation violations.
One of the violations was leaving the state without his probation officer’s permission. Emmick went to Ohio, got a job and got married there in 2012. Later that year, while his wife was pregnant with their first child, Emmick returned to Iowa and was arrested. He spent two months in the Greene County jail awaiting disposition on the probation violation charge.
Judge Gary McMinimee at a hearing Jan. 28, 2013, revoked the probation and invoked the prison sentences in both cases. The terms were to be concurrent.
He was released and given a date to report for transport to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center correctional facility in Oakdale.
He went back to Ohio, though, instead of going to prison, and he picked up his life where he had left it. He and his wife have three children. They visited Universal Studios and the Grand Canyon.
And then Greene County got a new, energetic county attorney who is determined to build a law-and-order reputation that discourages people from breaking the law here. Emmick had taken too many steps back.
As to having offenders on the radar, in Emmick’s case, the radar has a name: Facebook. “We found him on Facebook. We knew where he was. We were just waiting for permission to go get him,” sheriff Williams said.
