30-year-old Douglas Casteel was sentenced Tuesday by the county's two Common Pleas Court Judges for two separate cases involving firearms. (Tusco TV)

NEW PHILADELPHIA (Tusco TV) - A 30-year-old former Newcomerstown man is going to prison for up to 22 years for two crimes involving firearms.

The aggregate prison term imposed against Douglas Casteel during back-to-back sentence hearings Tuesday includes seven and a half years handed down by Judge Elizabeth Thomakos for discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle in a residential neighborhood and 19 years from Judge Edward O’Farrell for an Oxford Township robbery that escalated into a car chase and shooting. Assistant County Prosecutor Mike Ernest says the sentence includes a mandatory six years on two three-year firearm specifications.  

"Mandatory time cannot be served concurrently, so Doug Casteel must serve the three years from Judge Thomakos. He must serve the three years of time from Judge Casteel. But of the remaining 16 years in Judge O’Farell’s case, Judge O’ Farrell as part of the agreement made those 16 years run concurrent with what essentially is the four and a half years in Judge Thomakos’ courtroom." 

The robbery occurred while Casteel was wearing a court-ordered GPS ankle bracelet for the earlier case. Judge Elizabeth Thomakos before handing down her portion of the sentence said Casteel’s likelihood of reoffending was off the charts. 

"At the age of 30, you’re looking at a risk assessment score of 40. Our scale stops at 34. At 34 you hit being a high risk, a very high risk offender and up from there."

Ernest says he’s glad both judges imposed sentences that reflect the seriousness of the crimes.

"He’s got a history of committing crimes, and most of them have taken place in the Village of Newcomerstown, violent crimes, burglaries, with this case now robberies, firing weapons, so absolutely. He’s been a source of problems, particularly to that village, and it was a good decision by both courts in imposing prison sentences."

The sentence includes more than 280 of local jail credit and a mandatory five years of post-release control. Ernest says Casteel could apply for judicial release after serving the mandatory six years and a portion of the discretionary term but he says the state would oppose his request.

TUSCO TV