39-year-old Leroy Foster was sentenced on a single charge of felonious assault, with a three-year gun specification. Foster accepted a plea deal if prosecutors agree to drop a repeat violent offender specification that he was indicted on. Even though he claims he is innocent, Foster could have faced 21 years in prison if a jury found him guilty on everything, so he opted for the six-year plea deal. 

Kenneth Sturgill Allen County Public Defender explains, “There are no distractions, we’re not running around to other courthouses in other counties, all of our time is devoted to one thing. That has allowed us to be available for the courts whenever they need us for scheduling purposes which makes things more efficient. We specialize in one thing, and we do it well. So, we’re able to communicate with the clients better and get them in a position that they’re comfortable to make a decision moving forward with on how they want to dispose of the case.”

Daquan Burse will be assigned a new lawyer because his current lawyer is also representing Travis Cook, who is charged with firing a gun at a home on June 26th, 2019. Burse is the alleged victim in that case, but since the lawyer was assigned cook's case first, he needs to step down from Burse's case. Burse was arrested on June 28th, 2019 for allegedly firing a shot at a home and he is also facing two cases involving trafficking drugs.

A budget hearing was held between the Allen County Public Defender's Office as well as the Allen County Commissioners.  The Public Defenders office stated that in order to meet the increased demand of court cases, a need has arisen to hire two attorneys and one investigator. 

The Allen County Public Defenders Office will provide public defenders to those arrested or facing charges who cannot afford an attorney. The building will be located at 417 N. West Street in Lima. Kenny Sturgill, Allen County Public Defender, shared that the lease for the building was signed this week, and is just awaiting a resolution from the Allen County Commissioners.

Both the Lima Municipal Court and the Allen County Common Pleas Court are looking into ways to provide representation to some defendants in their courtrooms. Lima Municipal Court representatives speaking with Allen County Commissioners on Tuesday morning on filling the gap left as public defender Stephen Chamberlain is on medical leave. They've asked commissioners to allow them to court appoint qualified attorneys to handle certain cases paying them per diem.