State v. Grant

Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided May 5, 2026·No. CT2025-0103·Published

Opinion

IN THE OHIO COURT OF APPEALS FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO

STATE OF OHIO, Case No. CT2025-0103 Plaintiff - Appellee Opinion And Judgment Entry

-vs- Appeal from the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. CR2025-0367 ALBERTA GRANT, Judgment: Affirmed

Defendant - Appellant Date of Judgment Entry: May 5, 2026

BEFORE: Andrew J. King; Craig R. Baldwin; William B. Hoffman, Judges

APPEARANCES: JOSEPH A. PALMER, for Plaintiff-Appellee; APRIL F. CAMPBELL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Baldwin, J.

{¶1} The appellant, Alberta Grant, appeals the sentence imposed by the trial court following her change of plea to guilty in connection with a plea deal. Appellee is the State of Ohio.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND THE CASE

{¶2} The appellant resided at 252 South Blackwood Drive in Zanesville with her husband and four children, one of whom is victim T.G., whose date of birth is March 31, 2016. The appellant’s father, Charles Hollenback, was a registered sex offender following his release from prison in connection with the rape of a child under the age of 13. When released on community control Hollenback was required to register as a sex offender; when he did so he listed his address as “homeless,” and as a result was on GPS monitoring.

Sometime prior to January 19, 2025, Hollenback would stay with the appellant for a couple of days, would leave for a day or so, and would come back. This trend continued until January 19, 2025, when Hollenback’s GPS showed him staying at the Blackwood Drive residence continuously. Hollenback failed to register the Blackwood residence as his address and never reported staying in Muskingum County. Hollenback’s community control supervisor noted Hollenback’s proximity to an elementary school via the GPS monitor and delved further into Hollenback’s activities.

{¶3} A review of Hollenback’s phone records revealed that he sent the appellant a text message stating that he had “a deal” for her, that he was spending a lot of money on women that he could be giving the appellant, that he knew T.G. was young but he was willing to wait, and that he knew T.G. was his granddaughter “but what the law don’t know” “won’t hurt them.” The appellant responded to Hollenback, stating “that can’t go on” because if “[her husband] finds out [she’ll] lose all her kids.” The appellant nevertheless allowed Hollenback to move into the Blackwood residence and live there with her and her family, allowing Hollenback to have access to her children, including T.G.

{¶4} Hollenback’s community control supervisor reported the matter to law enforcement. When confronted with whether Hollenback was residing with her and her family the appellant lied, telling officers that Hollenback did not live with them. However, Hollenback’s text message history, together with his GPS history, confirmed that he did, in fact, reside at the Blackwood Drive residence. Further, it was confirmed that Hollenback had offered to give the appellant money for access to T.G. for the purposes of a sexual relationship. Despite Hollenback’s status as a sex offender, the appellant left her children alone with him on numerous occasions. Finally, it was discovered that

Hollenback had exchanged letters with T.G. documenting his sexual relationship with her. The appellant, when questioned by law enforcement, lied numerous times to conceal the events surrounding the fact that Hollenback resided with her at the Blackwood residence, that he had offered her money for access to T.G., and that he exchanged letters with the appellant and with T.G.

{¶5} In a letter Hollenback sent from jail to the appellant he once again asked to be with T.G. as soon as he got out of jail, and told the appellant that he would give her money if she let him. T.G. wrote a letter to Hollenback by in which she wrote, in part, “to my love, I love you. Do you love me back?”, followed by a check-mark box for “yes” or “no.” Hollenback wrote back to T.G., stating “baby, do you mean this? I will meet you in your room, but I get to [perform cunnilingus] and kiss your bare butt and make love to you tonight. But I go all the way inside of you tonight,” followed by a check-mark box for “yes” or “no.” Although the appellant was aware of the contents of the letters, she lied to police when questioned about them. T.G. later confirmed that Hollenback raped her after the exchange of said letters.

{¶6} On May 22, 2025, the appellant was indicted on the following charges:

• Count 1: Endangering children in violation of R.C. 2919.22(A) and (E)(2)(a), a misdemeanor of the first degree;

• Count 2: Endangering children in violation of R.C. 2919.22(A) and (E)(2)(a), a misdemeanor of the first degree;

• Count 3: Endangering children in violation of R.C. 2919.22(A) and (E)(2)(a), a misdemeanor of the first degree;

• Count 4: Endangering children in violation of R.C. 2919.22(A) and (E)(2)(c), a felony of the third degree;

• Count 5: Obstructing justice in violation of R.C. 2921.32(A)(5) and (C)(4), a felony of the third degree; and, • Count 6: Obstructing justice in violation of R.C. 2921.32(A)(5) and (C)(4), a felony of the third degree.

The appellant pleaded not guilty to all charges at her May 28, 2025, arraignment.

{¶7} The appellant thereafter entered into a plea agreement with the appellee. A Plea of Guilty form was filed with the court and stated in part that “[p]rison terms for multiple charges, even if consecutive sentences are not mandatory, may be imposed consecutively the Court.” A change of plea hearing took place on July 23, 2025, at which the appellant withdrew her plea of not guilty and entered a plea guilty to all charges. The trial court engaged in the requisite Crim.R. 11 colloquy and ordered a presentence investigation.

{¶8} The matter proceeded to sentencing on September 29, 2025. The trial court sentenced the appellant to 180 days of local incarceration on Counts 1, 2, and 3, which were the misdemeanor child endangerment charges. The court then sentenced the appellant to 36 months in prison each on Counts 4, 5, and 6, and ordered them to be served consecutively. The court stated:

THE COURT: I do find that consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime and to punish this defendant and that consecutive sentences are not disproportionate to the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct and the danger that the defendant poses to the public.

At least two of the multiple offenses were committed as part of one or more courses of conduct, and the harm caused by two or more of the multiple offenses committed was so great or unusual that no single prison term for any of the offenses committed as part of any of the courses of conduct adequately reflects the seriousness of the defendant’s conduct.

The trial court also issued a sentencing Entry in which it stated, inter alia, that it had “considered the record, all statements, any victim impact statement, the plea recommendation in this matter, as well as the principles and purposes of sentencing under Ohio Revised Code §2929.11 and its balance of seriousness and recidivism factors under Ohio Revised Code §2929.12.” The Entry set forth the aggregate prison sentence of 108 months.

{¶9} The appellant filed a timely appeal, and sets forth the following two assignments of error:

{¶10} “I. THE TRIAL COURT’S DECISION TO IMPOSE MAXIMUM CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES SHOULD BE VACATED.”

{¶11} “II. THERE IS CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT THE RECORD DOES NOT SUPPORT THE TRIAL COURT’S IMPOSITION OF TWO FORTY- EIGHT-MONTH PRISON SENTENCES1, AND THE SENTENCES ARE CONTRARY TO LAW.”

{¶12} The appellant submits that the trial court erred when it imposed consecutive sentences on Counts 4, 5, and 6, all felonies, resulting in an aggregate sentence of 108 months in prison. We disagree, and for the reasons set forth below affirm the decision of the trial court.

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