Hillsboro man already serving prison terms pleads guilty in unrelated case
A Hillsboro man already serving prison time in three separate cases was sentenced to an additional 18 months in prison recently.
Joshua Lee Arnold, 34, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in June and charged with aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, a fourth-degree felony; aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a fifth-degree felony; two counts of receiving stolen property, one fourth-degree felony and one first-degree misdemeanor; and a forfeiture specification.
He pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to the meth trafficking charge, the felony receiving stolen property charge and the forfeiture specification. The other two counts were dismissed.
According to the indictment, it was alleged that on or about Oct. 21, 2022, Arnold “did knowingly sell or offer to sell” meth. On Nov. 10, 2022, it is alleged that Arnold “did receive, retain or dispose of” a utility task vehicle valued between $7,500 and $150,000, while “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe said property had been obtained through the commission of a theft offense.”
Subject to forfeiture was $1,500 that was in Arnold’s possession on Nov. 10, “due to its instrumentality in the commission or facilitation of the offense,” the indictment said.
After accepting Arnold’s guilty pleas, entered via Zoom hearing from Richland Correctional Institution, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Arnold to nine months on each felony count, for a total of 18 months in prison. He had no jail time credit.
In addition to the cash ordered forfeited, Arnold was also ordered to pay $130 to the Highland County Task Force alone; $500 to the Highland County Task Force, joint and several with a co-defendant; and $611.95 to a victim, joint and several with the co-defendant.
As previously reported, a few weeks prior to this indictment, Arnold was sentenced in Highland County Common Pleas Court for eluding police before eventually hitting other vehicles as well as the historical bell in front of the Highland House Museum last year.
Arnold pleaded guilty May 17 to failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony, following the incident that occurred Nov. 10, 2022 in Hillsboro. For that case, Arnold was also sentenced by Judge Coss to a definite determinate term of 18 months in prison.
The sentences imposed in Highland County are to run consecutively to previous sentences from Clinton County. According to court records, Arnold was sentenced to 11 months in prison for two separate cases — for theft and for failure to appear — in Clinton County Common Pleas Court.
Arnold has been incarcerated since Dec. 15, 2022, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.