Ex-Meigs prosecutor pleads to forgery, theft - Insurance News | InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Newswires
Topics
    • Life Insurance News
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Articles
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider Pro
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Newswires
Newswires RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
February 28, 2014 Newswires No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

Ex-Meigs prosecutor pleads to forgery, theft

Amber Gillenwater, Gallipolis Daily Tribune, Ohio
By Amber Gillenwater, Gallipolis Daily Tribune, Ohio
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Feb. 28--GALLIPOLIS -- A former Gallipolis attorney was sentenced in the Common Pleas Court of Gallia County this week after he pleaded guilty late last year to two counts of forgery and two counts of theft.

John R. Lentes, 58, of Overland, Mo., and formerly of Crown City, was sentenced Monday to 60 months of community control and was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution during a hearing before presiding Judge Leonard Holzapfel, according to an entry filed with the Gallia County Clerk of Courts.

Lentes, who pleaded guilty to his four-count indictment during a hearing in November, is alleged to have forged the signature of Gallia County Common Pleas Judge D. Dean Evans between Nov. 1, 2004, and May 31, 2007, and also reportedly forged a common pleas court judgment entry between Nov. 1, 2004, and May 31, 2007.

The four-count indictment also outlines two charges of theft in which the defendant is alleged to have stolen cash from six victims between Sept. 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2008, property valued at over $1,000, but less than $7,500; and, in a separate theft charge, the defendant reportedly stole more than $7,500, but less than $150,000, from two female victims between April 1, 2003, and Dec. 11, 2008.

Lentes, who served two terms as the Meigs County Prosecuting Attorney from 1993-2001, later opened a practice in Gallipolis. He was disbarred in 2008 following a hearing before the Ohio Supreme Court after complaints were filed by a least three former clients who were represented by Lentes in civil matters between 2004 and 2007.

After an investigation, the state Supreme Sourt's Board of Grievances and Discipline found that Lentes had been "dishonest, negligent and incompetent" in his representation of his clients.

In 2010, Lentes was arraigned in the Common Pleas Court of Gallia County and charged with one count of theft after he had allegedly stolen $9,760 in insurance money from a woman between December 2007 and January 2009.

A plea hearing was later held in this case and, after an inconsistency in the indictment and proposed written plea agreement was discovered, the defendant withdrew his proposed guilty plea. The state also later indicted its desire to dismiss the charge and re-indict the defendant at a later date.

Then-presiding Judge Fred W. Crow III, who was assigned to the case after Evans recused himself, later overruled the state's motion to dismiss the case.

After an impending jury trial was continued several times, Kowalski again requested the court dismiss the case in April 2011. This second request, however, was based upon the fact that the victim would lack the ability to testify due to medical reasons.

The entry reads, "Based on her inability to testify, the state does not have sufficient evidence to proceed. Additionally, the state is aware of other incidents in which the defendant was involved in and is preparing to go to grand jury based on those events."

Crow again denied the state's motion for dismissal, but Crow later withdrew as trial judge due to medical reasons in an entry dated May 3, 2011.

later assigned Paul Randall Knece, judge of the Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas, to Lentes' case and, in a final entry filed in November 2011, Knece granted the state's request to dismiss the case without prejudice.

A new indictment was filed against Lentes on Aug. 21, 2012, and signed by assistant Ohio attorney generals Marianne Hemmeter and Jennifer Brumby, who represented the state.

A summons was later filed for Lentes' appearance. The defendant however, who was then living in Chesterfield, Mo., failed to appear for the scheduled arraignment on Oct. 26, 2012, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Lentes was subsequently arrested on the warrant in St. Louis County, Mo., on June 26, 2013. He was later transported on July 3 by a Gallia County sheriff's deputy back to Gallia County to face the charges of the new indictment.

He subsequently appeared for an arraignment hearing with his retained counsel, Chuck Knight, and pleaded not guilty to two counts of forgery, both felonies of the fifth degree, one count of theft, a fifth-degree felony, and one count of grand theft, a felony of the fourth degree.

Lentes later posted a $1,000 bond for his own release from the Gallia County Jail.

During a plea hearing Nov. 20, Lentes pleaded guilty to all four counts of his indictment. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered to be completed by the Adult Probation Department.

During Monday's hearing that was continued from an earlier scheduled hearing in January, the defendant was sentenced to five years probation. He was further ordered to pay restitution to the victims.

According to the judgment entry, the defendant was ordered to pay $62,000 to the first victim in this case, $75,000 to the Ohio Supreme Court'sClient Security Fund, $500 to the second victim, and $750 and $400, respectively, to the remaining four victims as listed in the entry.

He was further ordered to pay $50 a month to the clerk of court for probation services and will be subject to the supervision of the Adult Probation Department while on community control.

___

(c)2014 the Gallipolis Daily Tribune (Gallipolis, Ohio)

Visit the Gallipolis Daily Tribune (Gallipolis, Ohio) at www.mydailytribune.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Wordcount:  887

Advisor News

  • How to enhance your client’s retirement plan through the SECURE 2.0 Act
  • Creating financially fearless female investors
  • Todd Shea: Have your clients considered putting their property into a trust?
  • Fed’s Barr acknowledges oversight lapses before SVB failure
  • What happens if you work while receiving Social Security?
Sponsor
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • Commentary: Why Monte Carlo simulations can sell retirement investors short
  • Rethinking a 2023 rebalance as rate hikes remain
  • Why MYGAs are enjoying a renaissance
  • Nationwide and Fidelity Investments establish distribution relationship
  • Conning: Growing demand for in-plan annuities creates opportunity for insurers
Sponsor
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • State informing nearly 1 million New Mexicans that Medicaid enrollment no long automatic
  • Nevada's Rosen opposes changes to Medicare Advantage funding formula
  • Newtown psychologist admits to $79K Medicaid fraud
  • Obamacare’s good Rx: Republican-leaning states wake up to the value of expanding Medicaid eligibility
  • ACA ruling hits preventive care, but ‘isn’t a fatal blow,’ analyst says
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance News

  • AM Best will be ‘all over’ life insurers if high-risk assets escalate
  • Life insurance industry sales focus change cited in falling policy counts
  • State insurance regulators pursue more data on industry use of AI
  • Modern Life announces distribution partnership with Symetra
  • LIMRA: Life insurance premium expected to maintain record levels through 2024
More Life Insurance News

- Presented By -

Top Read Stories

  • Property and Casualty Insurance Market to See Huge Growth in Future | State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Allstate
  • Life insurance illustration rules on the clock as full rework looms
  • State insurance regulators pursue more data on industry use of AI
  • State insurance regulators resume effort to clean up misleading health ads
  • Investors, regulators, legislators anxious as banking system faces another shaky week
More Top Read Stories >

Press Releases

  • Insurity’s Annual Event, Excellence in Insurance, Set to Attract the Largest Number of Carriers & MGAs Using Cloud-Based Software
  • RFP #T01523
  • Senior Market Sales Enters Under-65 Individual Health Insurance Market With Acquisition of O’Neill Marketing
  • RFP #T01723
  • Trusted by 22 of the Top 25 Property and Casualty Carriers, Insurity Strengthens Its Position as a Top 2 Core System Provider for P&C Software
More Press Releases > Add Your Press Release >

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

Topics

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Articles
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2023 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your Insider Pro Account

Not registered? Become an Insider Pro.