Joseph West gets maximum sentence in two cases
ZANESVILLE – A 61-year-old man will serve nine years and six months in prison after he pleaded guilty in two separate cases, one for stealing a car and the other for burglarizing a home.
Judge Mark Fleegle adhered to the prosecutor’s recommendation to impose the maximum sentence on Joseph W. West Jr., who appeared Monday in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court.
In one case, he pleaded to burglary, a second degree felony, and two counts of theft, a fifth-degree felony. One theft was committed with a credit card and the other was of cash between $1,000 and $7,5000.
He and his wife were driving toward Columbus on Sept. 23, 2014 on U.S. 40 when they saw a house that became their target for burglary. His wife was previously sentenced in the case, which she said was part of a string of home burglaries the couple committed.
They took credit cards and other property, but West left a cigarette butt with DNA that led authorities to him. Security footage at nearby businesses also identified him.
He also pleaded in another case to theft of a motor vehicle by deception, a fourth-degree felony. West purchased a car on Aug. 20, 2013 using a check on an account he knew he had money, prosecutors say.
Fleegle sentenced West, who was on parole during the offenses, to 18 months in prison for the theft of a motor vehicle by deception. In the burglary and theft case, Fleegle sentenced him to a total of eight years in prison.
The prison sentence in those cases will run consecutively for nine and a half years total. West was credited with 358 days in jail.
West must pay a total of $3,550 in restitution between the two cases.
Three years of post-release control is mandatory.
Aided by written notes, West pleaded for a lesser sentence, speaking of his ailing health and his desire to be a different person.
“My health has deteriorated so much that I fear of dying in prison without a chance to redeem myself,” he said in court. “I don’t believe I deserve a prison sentence so harsh.”
But Fleegle remained unswayed by the 14-time felonious offender.
“I see nothing in this history indicating that you have tried or will stop committing crimes,” Fleegle told West in court.
Prosecutors had originally asked for an eight and a half year sentence, citing West’s extensive criminal history dating to the 1970s, and which includes armed robbery, rape, theft, forgery, sexual battery and escape.
“He’s done nothing in his life except commit crimes since the early ‘70s,” said Assistant Muskingum County Prosecutor John Litle in court.
Prosecutors then requested the maximum sentence after West was implicated in a sexual assault at the county jail against a fellow inmate. The sheriff’s office continues to investigate that case and has released few details.
“He cannot be reformed, and he is beyond mercy, rehabilitation, or other concern,” according to the state’s sentencing memorandum, which also notes that the community’s only hope once he is released is that “he is so infirmed by age that he is physically unable to continue endless streak of violation, depredation, and despoliation that defines his relationship with productive citizens, and lesser criminal violators.”
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