By Cory Shaffer
Advance Ohio Media, Cleveland
CLEVELAND — A Cleveland man charged in a string of shootings this year, including one where he is accused of killing a man then setting fire to his body, was supposed to be on state-supervised parole for three years following his November 2014 release from prison.
But a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge’s technical error at the 2010 sentencing of Jerry “J-Roc” Sims Jr. invalidated the state’s ability to check in with him every month and subject him to random drug samplings with the threat of going back to jail if he didn’t follow the rules.
Sims, who prosecutors say is a member of the Soldiers of the Struggles and Heartless Felons gangs, is being held on $1 million bond on charges including aggravated murder, felonious assault, aggravated arson and tampering with evidence in three shootings this year dating back to May.
In 2008 and 2009, Sims was charged in four separate cases with attempted murder, felonious assault, domestic violence, trafficking in heroin and being a felon in possession of a weapon in four separate case.
He pleaded guilty to one count each of attempted felonious assault, a weapons charge and domestic violence, in exchange for prosecutors dropping the other charges.
Judge Brian J. Corrigan sentenced Sims in July 2010 to four years in prison. He was subject to three years of parole after his release, which Ohio Department of Corrections spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said came on Nov. 19, 2014.
Judges are supposed to advise defendants that any violations of the terms of their parole could lead to an additional prison sentence of “up to one-half of the original sentence imposed.”
Corrigan told Sims that any misbehavior while he was on parole could land him back in prison for a sentence “not to exceed nine months,” according to a transcript of the hearing.
A lawyer representing Sims raised the issue after Sims was released from prison in late 2014, arguing that the error invalidated his parole. Cuyahoga County prosecutors conceded the argument, and Corrigan terminated Sims’ parole in February of 2015.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction declined to provide the specific requirements of Sims’ parole, but provided a generic form that each parolee signs. The parolees promise not to obtain any firearms, take drugs or drink alcohol and abide by the rules as set by the Adult Parole Authority.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court spokesman Darren Toms issued a written statement on Corrigan’s behalf.
“While any judge would be disappointed that a sentencing error occurred, being on post-release supervision is not a guarantee that person will not reoffend,” Toms said.
Twenty-five percent of inmates released on post release control in 2012 committed a new crime within three years of their release, according to a report published earlier this year by the state’s prison system. That’s a tad less than the 29 percent of all of those released from prison that year that reoffended within three years, according to report.
The court has seen several cases in recent years where authorities said men on parole carried out killings.
Jerome Bell was was convicted of murder in an April 2016 shooting that occurred less than a year after his release on parole for aggravated robbery conviction.
Carlton Springer was convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend to death in September 2015 while he was on parole for a 2012 domestic violence conviction.
Craig Wilson pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter in a July 2015 shooting that he committed while on parole on felonious assault charges.
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