Wooster woman sentenced for four accounts of child endangering, one of cultivating marijuana

WOOSTER -- A Wooster woman will serve three years of probation for four counts of endangering children.

Mary R. Cool, 35, of 430 N. Honeytown Road, was sentenced Wednesday by Wayne County Common Pleas Judge Corey Spitler to three years of community control for four counts of child endangering and one count of cultivating marijuana.

Public Defender Beverly Wire said Cool is "doing extremely well," and her case worker from Children Services was in support of her receiving probation.

"Her focus is to get her children back," Wire said.

"I'm a little concerned about where you've been. ... I'm happy to see where you're going," said Spitler.

All five felony counts stem from a July 9 incident when the Medway Drug Enforcement Agency executed a search warrant at the residence of Cool and her boyfriend, Richard Yeagley, 41, according to Director Dave Smith. Assistance was provided by the Wooster Police Department and Wayne County Sheriff's Office.

Smith said they found what appeared to be a meth lab and "deplorable living conditions" at the residence.

Large amounts of waste, meth by-product and chemicals were found at the residence. A one pot method, or "shake and bake" method, was used to manufacture the drugs, said Smith.

Felony counts against Cool charge she knowingly allowed her four children (one per charge) to be in the vicinity of the meth operation. Each child was under the age of 18.

The cultivation charge carried a juvenile specification for growing marijuana within 100 feet of a juvenile in an amount between 200-1,000 grams, also found at the residence.

At the time of the sentencing, Spitler expressed concern over the photos he had seen of the living conditions at Cool's former residence.

"This (has) to be one of the worst (environments) I've ever seen," Spitler said.

He went on to say he understood Cool may have had a difficult time getting out of the living situation because of financial struggles, but "in this community, as generous as it is, I gotta believe there were other alternatives," he said.

Spitler also said he found it hard to believe Cool didn't know Yeagley was manufacturing meth.

Cool was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, undergo a six-month license suspension, obtain employment, maintain one primary physician and complete a case plan with children services.

A 36-month prison sentence was suspended.

Yeagley was sentenced in October to three years in prison for manufacturing meth at the residence after he was indicted with Cool in July.

Reporter Amanda Gallagher can be reached at 330-287-1635 or agallagher@the-daily-record.com.

By AMANDA GALLAGHER Staff WriterPublished:February 14, 2013 4:00AM

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