Greenfield man sentenced in Fayette County barn break-in

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Following a hearing in Fayette County Monday, a Greenfield man has now been convicted of breaking and entering in three counties and will spend the next nine months behind bars.

Public defense attorney Susan Wollscheid emerged from a closed meeting with her client, Charles W. Pennington, before a final plea and sentencing hearing was held with Fayette County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven Beathard during open court Monday.

Minutes later, Pennington, 35, entered a plea of guilty to a single count of breaking and entering, a felony of the fifth degree. Beathard ordered the Greenfield man to serve nine months in prison for breaking into a barn located in Perry Township in Fayette County.

Pennington, wearing grey and white stripes, had been conveyed from the Clinton County Jail to appear on the charge in Fayette County.

Pennington, according to the court, was on probation in Clinton County when the January indictment was handed down by a Fayette County grand jury. The new charge in Fayette County was then a violation of Pennington’s Clinton County probation terms.

Beathard said the Clinton County Court of Common Pleas imposed a prison sentence that had been suspended as a part of Pennington’s probation terms.

Before taking Pennington’s plea Monday, Beathard said, “Even though he has not been convicted in Fayette, Clinton convicted him.”

In Clinton County, court records show Pennington’s suspended prison sentence was imposed March 9 to a count of breaking and entering in that county from a 2015 case.

Fayette County Assistant Prosecutor Sean Abbott said during the hearing Monday that Pennington trespassed into a barn in Perry Township in Fayette County Dec. 20, 2016.

A witness saw Pennington in a station wagon and reported the incident to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, who tracked Pennington down and questioned him. Abbott said Pennington admitted to authorities that he had been driving the station wagon in the vicinity. No restitution was ordered in the case.

During Monday’s hearing, Beathard said Pennington had been released from prison Oct. 4, 2017, after serving an eight month prison sentence out of Highland County for breaking and entering.

Following Monday’s hearing, Pennington was held in the custody of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office bailiff to be transported to prison.

Public defense attorney Susan Wollscheid (standing center) emerges from a closed meeting with her client, Charles W. Pennington (standing left), minutes before a final plea and sentencing hearing was held with Fayette County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven Beathard during open court Monday.
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2018/03/web1_WebCourt1-1.jpgPublic defense attorney Susan Wollscheid (standing center) emerges from a closed meeting with her client, Charles W. Pennington (standing left), minutes before a final plea and sentencing hearing was held with Fayette County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven Beathard during open court Monday. Ashley Bunton | Record-Herald
Pennington’s charge in Fayette Co. violated probation in Clinton Co.

By Ashley Bunton

[email protected]

Contact Ashley at (740) 313-0355 or connect on Twitter by searching Twitter.com for @ashbunton and sending a message.

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