Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Myron Duhart made it clear Wednesday he doesn’t take kindly to threats.
He ordered Joshua Pelton, 27, into court after Pelton told his probation officer on Tuesday that he was irritated with the court for denying his motions to regain driving privileges and terminate his probation early. He reportedly said he knew where Judge Duhart gets his car serviced.
The probation officer passed that comment on to the judge, who was visibly angered by what could be taken as a threat.
“I’m trying to understand what it was that you were intending to convey when you indicated, ‘I know where he has his car serviced.’ I take that real serious. I don’t play around with that,” the judge said.
Pelton told the court his stepfather works in the service department of a car dealership, and he thought he might be able to speak to the judge about his repeated denials of his motions.
In 2013, Pelton pleaded no contest to aggravated vehicular homicide for an Oct. 19, 2012, crash on the Anthony Wayne Trail in Maumee. His friend and passenger, Kenneth Tesznar, 25, of Toledo was killed. While Pelton could have been sentenced to three years in prison, the victim’s family did not want to see Pelton punished, prompting Judge Duhart to place Pelton on community control for three years. The judge also ordered him to spend six months in the county’s work-release program and suspended his driver’s license for four years.
“I should have put you in prison,” the judge told Pelton. “To be standing here and testing me right now, wow, that takes a lot of gumption.”
While Judge Duhart said Pelton could be charged with intimidation, a third-degree felony, for threatening a public servant, he instead issued him a warning, saying he would revoke his community control if he violated any of the terms or conditions.
He also said Pelton, who was injured in the crash, is lucky to be alive.
“You are blessed and fortunate to be standing here. You could be the one dead,” Judge Duhart said. “Not to mention the fact you ought to feel some sense of remorse for the fact that you are the cause of your friend’s death. He didn’t deserve that, and you want to bother me about not being able to drive? Think about that. You have affected your friend’s life and his family’s life forever.”
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published February 5, 2015, 5:00 a.m.