Yellow Springs man gets prison time after plea deal
- Published: September 16, 2020
Yellow Springs resident Michael M. Gentile will serve up to a year in prison after reaching a plea deal with the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office in July related to charges filed in 2017.
Last month, Greene County Common Pleas Judge Stephen A. Wolaver sentenced Gentile, 23, to three 12-month terms, minus days previously jailed in the case, with each sentence to be served concurrently. He is currently incarcerated at Lebanon Correctional Facility, with a release date set for July 26, 2021, and parole eligibility effective May 14, 2021, according to Ohio prison records.
Indicted in late October 2017 on four counts of rape, a first-degree felony, and one count each of sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, corrupting another with drugs and aggravated possession of drugs, Gentile also faced a separate indictment on two counts of vandalism of property “owned, leased or controlled” by the Village of Yellow Springs.
The rape and drug charges stemmed from a May 22, 2017, incident at a Yellow Springs residence where Gentile, then 20 years old, also was accused of providing or administering a controlled substance to a juvenile at least two years his junior. All charges were felonies.
After initially pleading not guilty to all counts and being released on $200,000 bond in early November 2017, Gentile’s trial date was pushed back multiple times until this summer, when he pleaded guilty to two lesser charges involving the drug-related accusations and pleaded “no contest” to a single count of vandalism. All other charges were dropped.
Specifically, Gentile pleaded guilty to one count of attempted corruption of another with drugs, a third-degree felony, and one count of attempted child endangerment, a fourth-degree felony.
The vandalism charge is a fifth-degree felony.
None of the counts fell under mandatory sentencing rules, but Judge Wolaver wrote in his sentence filing that the seriousness of the charges and “the impact on the victim” warranted time in prison.
In accepting the plea deal, Gentile waived his right to appeal, according to court documents. He also agreed to pay $4,565.28 in restitution, and accepted a five-year civil protection order requested by the victim in the case. According to the plea agreement report filed in July, the prosecution’s recommendations were made with consultation and support of the victim.
Gentile, the son of Village Council member Laura Curliss, who is an attorney, was represented by Dayton-based attorney Jon Paul Rion.
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