Jessica K. Duncan

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GALLIPOLIS — A Jackson County woman, who was charged with aiding her boyfriend during a 2009 burglary spree in Gallia County, was recently sentenced to prison after she was found guilty of violating the terms of her probation.

Jessica K. Duncan, 35, Jackson, formerly of Oak Hill, was sentenced last week in the Gallia County Common Pleas Court to serve three years in the Ohio Reformatory for Women for multiple counts of complicity.

Duncan, along with her co-defendant, Jack R. Spires, 41, Oak Hill, were arrested on October 15, 2009, following a high-speed chase along Ohio 279 that ended on U.S. 35 near the Rio Grande exit following what was described by court officials as a day-long “rampage” that included four burglaries and one break-in at an outbuilding.

Police reports filed in this case indicate that Duncan and Spires traveled together to five separate residences on the afternoon of October 15, 2009, in the Vinton and Bidwell area and, while Duncan waited in her car, Spires entered each respective household and one shed and stole various items from each location, including a firearm, several laptops, miscellaneous jewelry and several tools.

Witnesses later reported observing a suspicious white vehicle in the area of the reported burglaries. Later that day, an Oak Hill police officer got into a pursuit with the suspect vehicle, later identified as Duncan’s, on Ohio 279 and later onto U.S. 35 toward Gallia County.

Stop sticks were later deployed by a Rio Grande Police officer and the vehicle was stopped in the east bound U.S. 35 lane just west of the intersection with Ohio 325. The suspects were apprehended by Gallia County Sheriff’s Deputies and several stolen items reported stolen earlier that day were discovered inside the vehicle.

Spires, who was subsequently convicted of four counts of burglary and one count of breaking and entering by a jury following a two-day trial, was sentenced in May 2010 to eight years of imprisonment for each count of burglary and one year for breaking and entering, all to be served consecutively for a total of 33 years.

According to the Ohio Department of Correction’s website, Spires is currently incarcerated in the Ross Correctional Institution and is slated to be released on October 7, 2042.

Duncan, who cooperated with police following her arrest and later testified against her co-defendant, was sentenced on June 11, 2010, to two years of probation after pleading guilty to four counts of complicity to burglary and one count of complicity to breaking and entering.

She was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,078.50, or half the amount of total restitution owed to the victims in this case, with Spires ordered to pay the remaining half.

Violations filed on December 17, 2010, allege that Duncan had tested positive for Methadone, Opiates, Oxycodone and Benzodiazepine on December 9, 2010, in a drug test administered by the Jackson County Municipal Court and had been unsuccessfully discharged from the TASC drug program in Jackson.

These violations were later dismissed on behalf of the probation officer on in June 2011, however, additional violations were filed on January 19, 2012, in this case stating that the defendant had again tested positive for drugs on November 15, 2011, and on December 9, 2011, in the Jackson County Municipal Court, among other allegations.

These violations against the defendant, who, according to court documents, had entered a rehabilitation program in Portsmouth, were again dismissed at the request of Duncan’s probation officer in May 2012. The court subsequently extended the period of her probation an additional three years on May 16, 2012.

A warrant to arrest the defendant was again filed in January of this year, and, after being arrested, Duncan appeared for an arraignment on numerous probation violations including the allegation that she had provided another inmate in the Gallia County Jail with suboxone on January 17, and had again tested positive for numerous drugs.

During a final hearing in this case last week, Duncan’s community control was revoked and she was sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment for each count of complicity to burglary and to 11 months of imprisonment for complicity to breaking and entering, sentences to be served concurrently for a total of three years.

The defendant was given credit for 30 days served along with future custody days awaiting transportation to a state prison.