CHAMPAIGN COUNTY — Ryan Shane Reed, a former Urbana-based attorney was sentenced to serve two years in prison on Thursday for a string of crimes he says was the result of his alcoholism.
Reed pleaded guilty in October to two different cases.
In the first case, he pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary, trespassing in a home or habitation, and domestic violence.
In the second case, he pleaded guilty to charges of failure to comply with the signal/order of a police officer and OVI.
>> Suspended attorney arrested after high-speed chase near Urbana
Despite being a well-known defense attorney in the community, Reed had his vices, which included an admitted substance abuse problem that was several years in the making.
Before going into private practice, Reed was fired from his job at the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office in 2013 because his drinking resulted in shirking his work responsibilities, according to Reed’s personnel file and statements made by him.
“I’ve lived a pretty good privileged life, but there’s always been that one dark passenger that I always bring with me, and that’s alcohol,” Reed said during his sentencing hearing.
In May of this year, Reed was accused of shoving a woman he knew and slashing her tires, and violating a protection order taken out against him by her.
He was then charged shortly with burglary for breaking into the woman’s house on two separate occasions – once while wearing a bulletproof vest.
It was believed that Reed was under the influence of alcohol for some of those incidents.
During Reed’s sentencing, the woman read a victim impact statement via video chat.
“I’ve never been so terrified of someone before in my entire life,” she told the judge.
But Reed’s legal troubles finally came to a head in June when law enforcement was told Reed was on his way to kill the woman with a knife. That led to a high-speed chase between Reed and Champaign County Sheriff’s Office deputies just outside of the city of Urbana -- at times the chase reached nearly 100 miles per hour.
Reed crashed his car near Woodburn Road, where he was taken into custody. He’s spent the last six months in the Tri-County Jail, where he said during his hearing he had a lot of time to reflect on how his actions hurt himself and other people.
Reed’s defense team asked the judge to consider community control and a treatment option instead of prison. One of his attorneys, Chris Bucio, said that many of Reed’s family members, friends, clients and others in his life had written letters in support of Reed and his character.
But the special prosecutor assigned to the case, Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor, Joseph Gibson Jr. said he believed Reed and his defense team made the serious incidents in the cases out to be the equivalent of a ‘drunken mistake,’ and that Reed’s actions warranted more severe punishment.
The judge in the case agreed and sentenced Reed to a total of two years in prison.
Now that Reed’s criminal case is over, the Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary council still has to make a recommendation about his license to practice law. Reed was issued an interim remedial suspension this summer. The final decision will ultimately be up to the Ohio Supreme Court after they receive a recommendation.
Cox Media Group
