Share and Follow
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Judge R. Scott Krichbaum initially suspected someone was pulling a prank on him this April Fools’ Day.
In his more than three-decade tenure at the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in Ohio, he had never encountered a defendant requesting additional time during sentencing.
Yet, that’s precisely what 27-year-old Kenneth Newton did.
Newton admitted guilt to two counts of fourth-degree felony assault and one count of first-degree misdemeanor aggravated menacing. These charges stemmed from an incident on February 6, involving an attack on two deputies while he was incarcerated at the Mahoning County jail.
According to reports, Newton allegedly bit both deputies as they were leading him to an elevator.
A plea agreement called for Newton to receive 12 months in prison. He wanted 18 months instead.
“I’ve gotta tell you, I’ve never heard that before,” Krichbaum said. “I’ve never had anybody ask for more time.”
“This isn’t like an April Fools’ joke or anything like that?” he asked.
The judge ultimately obliged.
Newton wanted the extra time to take advantage of the extra vocational and counseling programs in prison.
He was also sentenced earlier this year to two to three years in prison by Judge John Durkin after pleading guilty to felonious assault.
The sentence he received from Krichbaum is expected to run consecutively to the sentence Newton received from Durkin.
The felonious assault charge is for an attack on a man last summer at the Rescue Mission on the North Side. Newton was still in jail waiting for that case to be resolved when he was accused of attacking the deputies.