The sentence will begin after Victoria finishes a more than three-year sentence in state prison for unrelated trafficking and possession of heroin convictions.
Victoria was shot several times by Clark County Deputy Christopher Doolin on March 20 and seriously injured. Doolin and Deputy Nicholas Anderson were cleared of any wrongdoing in the case by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and a Clark County grand jury.
Deputies were at the Horseshoe Sports Bar in Springfield Twp. investigating a report that Victoria was pointing a gun at people in the bathroom when they said he leveled a handgun at them from his vehicle.
Victoria has five prior felony convictions that prohibit him from possessing a firearm. He initially denied having a gun in an interview with the Springfield News-Sun from his hospital bed, but pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court last July.
In court Monday, he maintained that he doesn’t remember anything that happened that night. His toxicology report showed that he had alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and opioids in his system.
“You mix that with a gun, he should be very thankful that he’s alive and he can refocus,” Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said after the sentencing.
Victoria’s extensive criminal history and his actions on the night of the shooting demonstrated a, “rather cavalier lack of respect for authority,”as well as common sense, Rice said.
Carrying a gun as a felon is a serious crime, Rice said, but this incident was made worse by the fact that Victoria was intoxicated, on bond for another felony case, and pointed the gun at people inside a crowded bar, then law enforcement.
“(That) takes a serious crime and elevates it to the level of being scary,” he said. “It’s conduct that, quite frankly, has to be severely punished.”
Victoria expressed remorse for putting Doolin in a situation where he had to discharge his firearm and indicated he’s ready to tackle his drug and alcohol addictions that have been the root cause of his violent past.
“I’ve never shot anyone, but I can imagine how that feels,” Victoria said. His lawyer noted that Victoria suffers from PTSD from this incident and a prior one in which he was stabbed by a family member.
“He is in agreement that it is a significant problem,” defense lawyer Art Mullins said of Victoria’s drug and alcohol abuse.
But the court can’t take him at his word, Rice said, given his violent criminal history and no prior use of prison time to become rehabilitated.
“I wish I had the confidence that this situation was a game changer,” he said.
Rice acknowledged that Victoria had a difficult upbringing, only finishing the ninth grade and living on his own by age 17.
“I’m not sure he ever had much of a chance in life,” he said.
But he also noted that the father of four has shown poor judgment and a disregard for the law and law enforcement in the past, including being caught smoking marijuana on hospital grounds twice during his stay after being stabbed in 2010.
He has previous convictions for robbery, disorderly conduct, assault, domestic violence, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and the most recent for trafficking in heroin.
The judge also noted that Victoria incurred 85 violations of prison rules during a previous two-and-a-half-year incarceration.
The maximum sentence for the federal weapons charge is 10 years and prosecutors had requested Victoria serve nine, according to court documents.
The judge will recommend Victoria for a 500-hour drug treatment program and ask that he be placed in a federal prison close to Ohio.
Victoria’s mother and several other family members were in the courtroom Monday and told him they loved him as he was led out and he responded, “I love you, too.”
After his release from federal prison, Victoria will serve three years of supervised release during which he must do 100 hours of community service.
Kelly believes that justice has been served in the case and said he’s thankful no one lost their lives.
“It sends a message. This violence has got to stop,” he said. “So many bad things could have happened that night.”
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