By TODD HELBERG
cnedit@crescent-news.com
A Wauseon man decided Thursday in Defiance County Common Pleas Court to have his drug trafficking case tried, six days after he had entered a guilty plea.
Larry Moreno, 29, will stand trial Aug. 6 on charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony, and two counts of trafficking in marijuana, second- and third-degree felonies. Visiting Judge Randall Basinger of Putnam County " sitting in for Judge Joseph Schmenk, who withdrew from the case " granted a motion Thursday for Moreno to withdraw the guilty plea he had tendered to the charges on June 27.
Moreno's attorney " Tennille Newton of Archbold " told the judge that she had made "misstatements of fact" to her client last week about his potential release from prison. Just before Moreno was given a nine-year prison term by Basinger on June 27, she had indicated that her client would be eligible for judicial release in six months.
However, Basinger noted Thursday that he would not have been eligible for early release for five years under the sentence handed down.
Assistant county prosecuting attorney Carson Slade did not object to Newton's motion.
Basinger noted that Aug. 6 is a "firm trial date" while there would be no further pretrial hearings or plea negotiations. However, Moreno could enter pleas to the charges at any time before the trial concludes.
The three charges on which Moreno will stand carry maximum prison terms totaling 23 years.
A grand jury indictment alleges that he sold six pounds of marijuana to an undercover informant on one occasion and five pounds of marijuana on another.
Two co-defendants were also charged as a result of the Multi-Area Narcotics Unit investigation.
Travis Urbina, 26, 1024 Charles St., was sentenced to a five-year prison term on June 12 while a second man " Ruben Santos III, 25, 1298 W. High St. " is scheduled to be sentenced on July 10 on two charges.