MANSFIELD — Michael Skidmore has been sentenced to 16 months in prison in connection with a scuffle at the Richland County Commissioners meeting that resulted in a security officer firing his gun.
The sentence was handed down by visiting judge Richard Reinbold on Wednesday morning in Richland County Common Pleas Court.
On June 10, Skidmore, 59, was convicted of inducing panic, obstructing official business and two misdemeanor counts of assault. A jury found him not guilty of two counts of felonious assault.
The charges stem from an altercation with two security officers who tried to remove Skidmore from a Richland County Commissioners meeting July 9, 2015.
“We understand that the judge was limited on what he could do with the sentencing because of the lack of the PSI (pre-sentence investigation), but we still feel that he’s a great candidate for community control and think that the best predictor of that is how he did while he was under pre-trial supervision,” defense attorney Jaceda Blazef said.
Prior to sentencing, Skidmore refused to cooperate with a pre-sentence investigator; however, Reinbold is giving him another chance to complete the PSI. If he complies, he could be eligible for judicial release, according to Blazef.
Skidmore will be held at the Richland County Jail.
“I think the sentence was very appropriate,” said head of court security Dave Leitenberger. “Mr. Skidmore had no cause to cause physical injury to either of the officers.
“I regret that Mr. Skidmore didn’t cooperate more for his own benefit, and for everybody’s benefit, really.”
