A Marysville woman could be facing more than a year in prison after allegedly breaking into her mother’s home.
The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Johnna Ann Carter, 21, whose court-listed address is Sixth Street, Marysville, charging her with one count of trespass in a habitation.
According to court documents, On Dec. 5, deputies caught Carter in her mother’s home in Milford Center. She had allegedly broken out a window and climbed through it into the home.
“Apparently she was just cold and had nowhere to go,” said Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips.
Her parents said Carter has “not lived there in a long time.”
The parents said Carter had been told before that she was not welcome in the home.
While being searched, Carter told investigators she had a syringe in her pocket.
When asked about the needle, Carter said she “has had a drug problem and had it if she wanted methamphetamine.”
While deputies were trying to take Carter to Tri-County Regional Jail in Mechanicsburg, she allegedly began to resist and refused to be put in the cruiser.
“She grappled deputies and began to fake a seizure in the road,” according to court documents. “Once Johnna was told she would take additional charges if she continued, she stopped her fake seizure.”
In addition to the felony, Carter was charged with misdemeanor obstructing official business for the allegedly faked seizure and possessing drug abuse instruments.
Phillips said that while the offense was initially charged as a burglary, it was reduced to trespassing because she was apparently not attempting to commit another crime. Burglary means breaking into an occupied home to commit another crime, like theft or assault. The prosecutor said there is no indication the woman intended to commit another crime while in the home.
If convicted on all charges, Carter could face more than 18 months in prison.
In September, Carter pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle stemming from an incident in May. Carter was at her mother’s home in Milford Center. Carter used a key the mother didn’t know she had and took her mother’s 2000 Jeep. Carter had the vehicle for more than a week.
Also in September she pleaded guilty to criminal trespass for an incident in a local department store. Carter was allegedly caught stealing from the store and was told by store management that she wasn’t welcome to return. Just days later she was caught in the store. Later while at Tri-County Regional Jail, Carter said she needed treated for a medical issue and was taken to Memorial Hospital. While there, she attempted to walk out of the emergency room and was captured. She pleaded guilty to both trespassing and escape.
Also indicted was:
- Heather North, 35, whose court listed address is the Ohio Reformatory for Women. North is charged with two counts of Forgery. According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitations and Corrections, North was convicted of breaking and entering, theft and multiple counts of burglary in Guernsey County. She is serving a 45-month prison sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
Phillips said that between May 1 and May 11, North allegedly filed several documents in a juvenile court in Guernsey County. Court documents allege those documents were forged. The case was referred to Union County through the Guernsey County Prosecutor’s Office, Phillips said, “because the allegation is that the forgery actually happened in this county.”
If convicted, North could face an additional - Amber Rae Garner, 28, of Bellefontaine. Garner is charged with two counts of tampering with evidence. According to court documents, on April 15, Garner was stopped by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Milcreek Township. At the time she allegedly had both marijuana and drug paraphernalia on her. She tried to hide the drugs and paraphernalia, but officials were ultimately able to recover both.
Garner already pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. The court dismissed a misdemeanor count of marijuana possession.
Phillips said that because the woman tried to hide the drugs, “she turned what would normally have been a misdemeanor, into a felony.”
If convicted, Garner could face as many as 10 years in prison.