ASHLAND — Two Ashland University athletes will spend a week in the county jail after being convicted on first-degree misdemeanors of petty theft.
The two, originally charged with felony theft, were sentenced Monday after pleading guilty two months ago to reduced charges in Ashland County Common Pleas Court.
Emily O’Brien, 18, and Nina Nephew, 19, were initially charged with felonies for theft on Jan. 9, according to previous Ashland Source reporting. Both are listed as freshmen on AU’s 2023-2024 swim team roster.
They pleaded not guilty to the initial charges. But they changed their pleas to guilty after the charges were downgraded to misdemeanor thefts in April, court records show.
(Below is a PDF of Emily O’Brien’s change of plea, dated April 29.)
(Below is a PDF of Nina Nephew’s change of plea, dated April 25.)
Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell said at a Jan. 9 bond setting hearing for O’Brien’s case that the pair were caught at Walmart Jan. 7 with $146 of merchandise in their possession.
Walmart’s loss prevention said they’d also been in the store Jan. 4. On that date, it had been determined they stole $1,100 worth of merchandise, Tunnell said at the bond hearing.
The sentences
Both had sentencing hearings for misdemeanor petty theft on June 10. Both were sentenced by Judge David Stimpert.
(Below is a PDF copy of Emily O’Brien’s sentencing order.)
(Below is a PDF copy of Nina Nephew’s sentencing order.)
Each received sentences of 180 days in the Ashland County Jail. All but 10 days were suspended so long as defendants comply with rules and regulations of “supervising authorities,” and with the conditions of their sentencing orders.
O’Brien and Nephew both received an additional three days of jail credit for time already served.
They’ll both spend seven days at the Ashland County jail, beginning June 21, according to their sentencing orders.
O’Brien and Nephew each received two years of probation, along with 200 hours of community service, in addition to their time in prison.
Stimpert also ordered both to pay $250 plus fees in financial sanctions. Neither O’Brien nor Nephew are allowed to be on Walmart property, according to sentencing documents.
In each sentencing hearing, Stimpert told O’Brien and Nephew, respectively, they caught “a break” with their charges being downgraded to misdemeanors. Both O’Brien and Nephew’s attorneys shared their clients felt remorse for their actions.
Stimpert questioned Nephew, asking her about consequences she’d received from AU and why she participated in the theft.
“I think I just got involved with the wrong people at school and I think I just got caught up in trying to be cool, fit in and I just didn’t have the guts to say no to something like that,” Nephew said.
O’Brien offered a statement at the beginning of her hearing, saying she’d learned she needs to “better (her)self through (her) mistakes.” She added she’s grateful to those who’ve shown her forgiveness.
‘An ongoing issue’
Tunnell said in both sentencing hearings that O’Brien and Nephew had cooperated with the investigation. He also said they helped identify other uncharged suspects.
Stimpert said the issue is one the court is “still dealing with” during Nephew’s sentencing hearing.
During O’Brien’s sentencing hearing, Stimpert told her she should let her friends know theft comes with consequences.
“There seems to be … an ongoing issue with thefts from Walmart, and even a specific subset of AU students stealing from Walmart and it’s going to end up with someone going to prison,” Stimpert said during O’Brien’s hearing.
Tunnell said during O’Brien’s sentencing hearing that AU was in some process of proceedings against the defendants. He did not offer further details about the proceedings during the hearing.
Ashland Source called Tunnell’s office Tuesday for further comment, but he was unavailable.
Both O’Brien and Nephew said during their sentencing hearings they hadn’t yet received any consequences from AU. They both said they had been suspended from the swim team for the spring semester.
The university’s athletics disciplinary policy states there are two types of off-campus disciplinary violations. Theft is included under Level 1 violations. The policy states when an athlete is arrested or cited, their case “will be subject to review by the athletic department.”
(Below is a PDF of Ashland University’s 2023-2024 student athlete handbook. The athletics disciplinary policy can be found on page 58.)
“Penalties will be determined and applied as appropriate,” the handbook states. “A conviction on the charges can result in additional penalties.”
Dusty Sloan, AU’s director of athletic communications, told Ashland Source the AU athletics department did not have comment on the sentencing.
Al King, the university’s athletic director, did not return a call from Ashland Source by the time this story was published.
Attorneys for O’Brien and Nephew both received voicemails from Ashland Source, but did not return calls by the time this story was published.
