North was charged in 2011 for the rape of a girl under the age of 13 in 2005 and 2006.
The plea agreement was set for a six-year sentence.
However, last week new counsel for North entered in a motion to withdraw the guilty plea. That hearing was scheduled for the same time as the sentencing on Monday.
But just minutes before the hearing, the defense entered a motion to continue with the Logan County Clerk of Courts. Logan County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark O’Connor agreed to continue the hearing for two more weeks.
In that time, the defense will decide if it will try to withdraw the guilty plea, which would send the case to trial, or stick with the already agreed upon six-year sentence.
“If he (North) is convicted of any these (charges) he is pretty well going to go to life in prison. So that’s why I need the time,” North’s new defense attorney Adam Bleile said. “When you are talking about the disparity, six years virus potentially life in prison, I need the time and I need the expertise of co-counsel so we are all on the same page.”
Logan County Prosecutor William Goslee asked the judge to not grant the continuance and instead move forward with the sentencing. Goslee said this case had gone on long enough, and that he was concerned about the mental health of the victim.
“We’ve explained to the victim and her family that this case is closed and that she would not have to testify,” Goslee said.
North is due back in court at the beginning of July.
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