Pubdate: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 Source: Dayton Daily News (OH) Copyright: 2002 Dayton Daily News Contact: http://www.activedayton.com/partners/ddn/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/120 Author: Wes Hills WOMAN BEGINS SENTENCE AMID PROTESTS Even Prosecutors Believe She Was Dupe Of Boyfriend DAYTON - Her appeals exhausted, Carol Lee McGonegal began her eight- year prison sentence Friday while her attorney prepared to seek a commutation of her drug case sentence to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft. Attorney Jon Paul Rion said the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review McGonegal's case a couple of weeks ago, setting the stage for her sentence to begin. Rion noted that many in law enforcement are supporting a lesser sentence for McGonegal, including representatives of the U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Attorney's Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Dayton Police Department and a regional drug task force. "When we go to the governor with this kind of strength in numbers, we believe he'll see it is out of the ordinary," Rion said. He noted he will not seek the commutation until after the November election. McGonegal was convicted of drug abuse in the June 1998 possession of 335 pounds of marijuana in a motor home as she left the Stop-N-Lock, 3646 Linden Ave. Rion had argued that McGonegal, 55, who owned What's Cookin restaurant, 454 Patterson Road, has no prior record, did not own the marijuana and had been "coerced into having it in her proximity by her boyfriend." The boyfriend and another defendant, prosecuted on federal charges, got lesser sentences because they cooperated with authorities. One drew five years in prison, the other 2 1/2 years. Prior to sentencing McGonegal of Oakwood on Dec. 6, 2000, visiting Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Otho Eyster voiced strong disagreement with the mandatory sentence. While agreeing with a jury's guilty verdict, Eyster of Knox County noted that "no one in the room believes" in the sentence "I'm about to impose. My hands are tied and, believe me, I don't have any alternative." After imposing sentence, which included the minimum fine of $7,500, Eyster took the unusual step of setting McGonegal free on an appeal bond. An investigator in the case testified that McGonegal did not own, use, buy or sell marijuana. He muttered "It's not right" when the jury returned its guilty verdict. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth