Craig Shoup

Reporter

FREMONT - Sandusky County Sheriff Kyle Overmyer could face a maximum of 14½ years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple felonies, including theft of prescription pills, theft in office and deceiving doctors to obtain prescription pain medication.

During a hearing Tuesday in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court, Overmyer stood in front of visiting judge Patricia Cosgrove and pleaded guilty to 14 counts, including 13 felonies. He had been indicted in August on 43 counts, 38 of them felonies.

Because he pleaded to felony counts, Overmyer will lose his peace officer certificate and will no longer be able to be a police officer.

A stoic Overmyer was led out of court shackled around his midsection and legs. He will be sent to Erie County Jail to be interviewed for a presentencing investigation that will be conducted by Ottawa County probation officials.

The presentencing investigation findings will be given to Cosgrove, who will determine Overmyer's punishment during a sentencing hearing at 11 a.m. Dec .13 in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court.

Special prosecutor Carol Hamilton O'Brien of Delaware County, who has overseen the case since February, said Tuesday she was satisfied with the outcome.

"The plea agreement was worked out between both parties. He pled to 14 counts, 13 of them felonies," O'Brien said. "We're pleased with the fact that the case is being resolved in this manner. I think this plea deal accurately reflects the scope of the conduct."

Overmyer pleaded guilty to the following counts:

Count 3: Deception to obtain Percocet, a fourth-degree felony

Count 11: Deception to obtain hydrocodone, a fourth-degree felony

Count 15: Deception to obtain Percocet, a fourth degree felony

Count 19: Falsification of financial statement, a misdemeanor charge

Count 21: Theft in office in November 2013 of more than $1,000 and less than $7,5000, a fourth-degree felony

County 23: Theft in office in April 2015 of more than $1,000 and less than $7,500, a fourth-degree felony

Count 25: Theft in office of more than $1,000 or less than $7,500 between January 2009 to August 2016, a fourth-degree felony

Count 27: Altering or manipulating records in November 2013, a third-degree felony

Count 29: Altering or manipulating records in April 2015, a third-degree felony

Count 39: Theft of prescription pills from April 2015 to August 2015, a fourth-degree felony

Count 40: Theft June 2015 to July 2015, a fourth-degree felony

Count 41: Theft of prescription pills in August 2015, a fourth-degree felony

Count 42: Theft of prescription pills in July 2015, a fourth degree felony

Count 43: Theft of prescription pills in July 2015, a fourth-degree felony

The 25 other felony counts and four misdemeanors were dropped as part of the plea deal.

Read the 24-page Sheriff Overmyer indictment

O'Brien said she could not elaborate because of a gag order Cosgrove placed on everyone involved in the case, but said Overmyer could be sentenced to probation, which would be the minimum punishment, or ordered to serve 14 1/2 years in prison, the maximum sentence.

The indictment charged the Sandusky County sheriff with deceiving physicians to obtain prescription medication, stealing prescription pill take-back boxes and falsifying records from the sheriff's Furtherance of Justice account.

Overmyer, 42, had been suspended from office in September by a three-judge panel and lost his bid for re-election in the Nov. 8 general election.

After paying bond at his Aug. 24 arraignment, Overmyer was sent back to jail Nov. 3 by Cosgrove for violating the terms of his bond by purchasing a crossbow when he was not allowed to possess a deadly weapon, erasing the hard drive of a county-owned computer less than two hours before turning it over to authorities, and contacting his brother-in-law Michael Meggitt, a captain with Sandusky County Sheriff's Office, more than 80 times when he was barred from having any contact with the sheriff's office.

An investigation into the sheriff began in August 2015, after then-Sandusky County Sheriff's Office Detective Capt. Sean O'Connell was told by a Bellevue police detective that Overmyer took the department's drug take-back box on behalf of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Toledo.

Some of the boxes collected by Overmyer were missing or tampered with and the investigation was turned over to Sandusky County Prosecutor Tom Stierwalt, who then asked the Ohio Attorney General's Office to review the case.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation decided to continue investigating Overmyer. BCI agent Jeff Cook handled the case and said in sworn testimony that Overmyer had a prescription drug problem.

CShoup@gannett.com

419-334-1035

Twitter: @CraigShoupNH