Following grand jury indictments Dec. 19, the four men charged in connection to a home invasion and attempted kidnapping of an Amish child in Middlefield two months ago pleaded not guilty during their arraignments Dec. 22 before Geauga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Matt Rambo.
Following grand jury indictments Dec. 19, the four men charged in connection to a home invasion and attempted kidnapping of an Amish child in Middlefield two months ago pleaded not guilty during their arraignments Dec. 22 before Geauga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Matt Rambo.
Bradford Hosler, Ricky Martin, William Hatfield and Randall Cromer, all of Canton, are facing a variety of charges related to the Oct. 9 incident.
Hosler, Hatfield and Cromer are accused of violently ransacking an Amish family’s home in search of money and taking the family’s 8-year old child hostage. The three allegedly attempted to abduct the child and threatened to kill him after finding no more than an estimated $5,000 in the home.
Martin, a former Amish taxi driver, is accused of helping plan the crime.
Hosler, Hatfield and Cromer each face nine charges: aggravated burglary; aggravated robbery; and three counts of kidnapping, all first-degree felonies; felonious assault, a second-degree felony; theft, a fifth-degree felony; and two first-degree misdemeanor assault counts, according to their indictments.
Rambo outlined the potential penalties for the charges. Aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and kidnapping each carry a possible prison sentence ranging from three to 11 years in prison, up to a possible maximum of 16.5 years and a $20,000 fine per charge.
Felonious assault carries a possible prison sentence of two to eight years, with a maximum of 12 years and a $15,000 fine. Theft carries a maximum sentence of six to 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine. Assault carries a maximum possible sentence of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine per each charge.
Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz and Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Burling, who each handled two of the arraignments, noted two of the kidnapping charges carry a Tier 1 child-victim offender registration requirement, while one carries a Tier 3 registration. Tier 1 registration requires annual reporting for 15 years, while Tier 3 requires registrations every 90 days for life, Rambo said.
Hatfield’s criminal history includes two out-of-state felony robbery convictions, which could result in mandatory prison terms for counts one through six, Flaiz said.
Flaiz added that Hosler and Cromer also have out-of-state felony convictions that, if determined to be equivalent offenses under Ohio law, could result in their prison sentences being mandatory.
Hosler, Hatfield and Cromer each are being held on a $750,000 cash or surety bond, which Rambo continued. Rambo ordered GPS monitoring if bond is posted and issued no-contact orders on the victims.
During the hearing, Cromer’s attorney, Cory Hinton, requested a bond reduction.
“Mr. Cromer is indigent, he certainly can’t afford that type of bond. Although there is some reference to out-of-state charges and things of that nature, I know that Mr. Cromer is a resident of Ohio, lives near the Canton area, has family in the area, has ties in the area,” Hinton said.
Burling opposed the request, citing Cromer’s criminal history, which includes out-of-state burglary, felony drug possession and felony theft.
“Given the severity of these charges, I know when bond was set, I believe … significantly fewer charges had been brought. We are asking to continue the bond as is,” he said.
Flaiz also detailed Hatfield’s criminal record, noting prior out-of-state robbery convictions, terroristic threats and theft and drug charges in Ohio.
While Hosler also has a criminal history neither Burling nor Flaiz discussed it in detail during the hearing.
Cromer, Hatfield and Hosler pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Martin faces six charges: complicity to aggravated burglary; complicity to commit aggravated robbery; and three complicity to commit kidnapping charges, all first-degree felonies; as well as having weapons while under disability, a third-degree felony, according to his indictment.
The complicity charges each carry possible prison sentences ranging from three to 11 years up to a maximum of 16.5 years and a $20,000 fine, Rambo said, adding the weapons-under-disability charge carries a possible prison sentence of nine to 36 months and a $10,000.
Similar to the other men’s charges, two of Martin’s complicity-to-kidnapping charges would require Tier 1 child-victim offender registration, while one would require Tier 3 registration. Martin’s attorney, Tim Hess, asked that Martin’s $500,000 cash or surety bond be reduced to a $50,000 maximum with GPS monitoring, citing Martin was not physically present during the crime and has not had convictions since 2017.
“It is my understanding one of the co-defendants tased a young individual and those other crimes that are alleged to have been committed by the persons who were actually there. Mr. Martin was not there. We hope the evidence will show he was not involved,” Hess said.
As previously reported, the men who broke into the home repeatedly used an electrical device to shock the 8-year old.
Burling requested the bond remain unchanged, noting additional charges have been filed since Martin’s initial appearance before Chardon Municipal Court Judge Terri Stupica and citing Martin’s criminal history, which includes second-degree felony burglary, theft from an elderly person and safecracking.
Rambo ordered Martin’s bond remain at $500,000, with conditions including GPS monitoring if bond is posted, no contact with the alleged victims and a prohibition on serving as an Amish taxi driver.
Martin pleaded not guilty to his charges.
All four cases have been assigned to Judge Rambo for future proceedings. Cromer’s case, the first heard, was assigned to Rambo and, pursuant to local rules, all remaining cases were assigned to his courtroom.
