Firearm thief sent to drug treatment

A man who stole some guns from a male relative will be spending several months in a substance abuse treatment center.

"I do realize I was in the wrong. It could have been a lot worse," defendant Todd R. Brown said Wednesday.

Brown said he's been trying to get his "head together" and regrets distancing himself from his family while using drugs.

"You can't get that back," he said.

In mid-January, Brown, 31, of 3915 Henry St., No. 3, Plymouth, pleaded guilty to theft of a firearm.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dismissed one count of burglary, also stemming from the Sept. 18 incident on Baseline Road in Greenwich Township. Huron County Sheriff's Detective John Harris investigated the case.

Brown was arrested at a Mansfield hotel, where Harris located the defendant with the help of the Mansfield Police Department. Officers recovered several stolen firearms and a large amount of cash at the hotel.

Huron County Public Defender David Longo said the crime didn't involve any forced entry and credited his client with being "forthright with authorities about his substance abuse problem."

Brown told Huron County Common Pleas Judge Jim Conway the last time he used drugs was when he was arrested. Authorities have said the theft was a drug-related crime.

The defendant was fined $500 Wednesday and ordered to spend four to six months in a community-based corrections facility, a form of prison which focuses on substance abuse treatment and education

If Brown violates the terms of his three years of intense probation, he faces three years in prison.