Press Release – For Immediate Release Date: March 3, 2021
Perez Convicts Agricultural Thief
Ashland County Prosecuting Attorney Christopher R. Tunnell announced today that Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Victor R. Perez obtained guilty verdicts after a three-and-a-halfday trial in the case of State of Ohio v. Justin Giauque in the Ashland County Court of Common Pleas. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Victor R. Perez successfully prosecuted the Defendant, obtaining convictions for two counts of Grand Theft, Unauthorized Use of Property, and Possessing Criminal Tools. The jury deliberated for less than an hour.
Giauque, between November of 2019 and March of 2020 stole $94,920.41 worth of harvested grains from his employer, Larry Enderle & Sons Grain, LLC of Jeromesville. The Defendant then sold those grains to Centerra Co-Op in Loudonville by deception. The Defendant utilized the property of Larry Enderle & Sons, LLC without permission in order to transport the stolen grain.
In announcing the conviction, Prosecutor Tunnell stated, “This case is another example of our commitment to keeping the agricultural community safe. Farmers are especially susceptible to theft offenses since their operations tend to be spread out and isolated. I am especially proud of Mr. Perez and the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office’s commitment to righting this wrong.”
According to Tunnell, after the theft was discovered, the Defendant fled, eventually having to be extradited from the State of New Mexico. Following the announcement of the guilty verdicts, Assistant Prosecutor Perez motioned the Court to revoke Giauque’s bond. That motion was granted by the Court and the Defendant is now residing in the Ashland County Jail pending his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for March 29, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. before Judge Ronald P. Forsthoefel. Giauque faces a maximum sentence of fifty-four months in prison.
Assistant Prosecutor Victor R. Perez added, “This Defendant’s actions were completely outrageous. He took his employer’s gravity wagon, filled it up, and drove it to sale. Giauque destroyed the trust that had been placed in him for nothing less than his own greed. I would like to thank Detective Aaron Crites of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office for his dogged pursuit of this thief. It is his hard work that allowed us to bring this criminal to justice.”