Stark Judge Reacts To Changes In Sentencing Law

(WHBC) – Stark County Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Forchione isn’t crazy about a change in state sentencing law.

The Reagan Tokes Act allows judges to sentence violent offenders to a range of time behind bars, so if the offender misbehaves behind bars they’ll spend more time there.

But Forchione says the new law also works conversely.

“One of the things that upsets victims is that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation can reduce sentences by 5 to 15 percent, which means a lot of violent offenders will be getting out early,” he told WHBC News.

Forchione says the law is a bit confusing and may be hard to follow for offenders, victims and even attorneys.

He says it goes against laws passed years ago that established “truth in sentencing.”

The person who kidnapped, raped and killed Ohio State student Reagan Tokes in February 2017 was a convicted sex offender and had been released from prison just three months earlier.

He was far from a model inmate and supporters of the changes say he would have still been in prison had a law like this been in place.

The changes took effect on March 22nd, and Forchione says they haven’t come into play yet in Stark County.