Greenfield man sentenced to prison
A Greenfield man indicted was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday after pleading no contest to charges from a 2025 Highland County Common Pleas Court case.
As previously reported, Quentin Binegar, 50, was indicted in July 2025 and was with aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a fifth-degree felony; and failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a fourth-degree felony. He was not located and served with the warrant for his arrest until May 2026.
After Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss denied a motion by defense attorney Kathryn Hapner to dismiss the case, Binegar entered a plea of no contest to the charges in July. According to the Court News Ohio glossary, a no contest plea "has the same effect as a guilty plea in a criminal case but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose."
Both charges stemmed from the same incident that allegedly occurred April 11, 2025. According to a bill of particulars, Highland County Sheriff’s deputies attempted to initiate a traffic stop on Binegar’s vehicle in the Greenfield area, at which point Binegar “accelerated at a high rate of speed.”
It is alleged Binegar eventually parked the vehicle and ran away on foot, as he was unable to be located. However, deputies did allegedly find 1.14 grams of methamphetamine and Alprazolam (Xanax) in Binegar’s vehicle, according to the bill of particulars.
At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Highland County assistant prosecutor Adam King argued in favor of a prison sentence for Binegar.
“He has an extensive criminal history spanning back over three decades,” King said. “He has 10 prior felony convictions. He has over 20 prior misdemeanor convictions.”
King also referred to a drug court assessment in which Binegar said he would “only” participate in residential treatment.
“I think those statements by the defendant make it clear what his true motivation is here,” King said.
Hapner disagreed, saying that Binegar has expressed a desire to “be on the same path” as others in his life who have “gotten clean.
“I understand the state’s reluctance with community control, but he has indicated to me a true desire to get clean,” Hapner said. “It’s up to him. If he succeeds and gets clean and stays clean, then I think we can all say that was very much worth taking and one less person dependent on drugs. If he messes it up, that’s his responsibility, but I think he ought to be given this opportunity.”
Binegar also addressed the court, saying he wanted to “give it a try” to get clean, after which Coss asked him several questions about treatment.
“Honestly, Mr. Binegar, I think the only hope for you would be drug court, but the problem with that is that the motivation has to be more than just staying out of prison,” Coss said. “You had promised your dad you’d stay out of prison, and the way to keep that promise is don’t commit any more crime, and yet you did.
“The fact that you’re unwilling to go to STAR — that you want to dictate the terms of your recovery — this is the way I look at it. You’re the one making the decision about what you’re going to do as opposed to opening your mind and listening to other people and understanding that your process of making decisions of your life has really been crappy. That’s why you’re here over and over again, and yet you still think, like a con, that you’re going to tell us what you’re willing to do in order for you to go into the drug court program. Well, that’s not the way it works.”
Coss added that if Binegar “had the right attitude,” he would have been willing to admit him to the drug court docket.
The judge sentenced Binegar to six months in prison on the drug possession charge and 18 months on the failure to comply charge, to be served consecutively, for a total of 24 months in prison. Binegar had 103 days of jail time credit.
In addition, Binegar’s driver’s license will be suspended for three years, effective Aug. 20.