SANDUSKY COUNTY, OH (WTOL) - The trial of a former detective in Sandusky County was canceled after he pleaded guilty Monday to tampering with evidence.
Sean O'Connell was charged with mishandling the investigation into the homicide of Heather Bogle.
He was charged after allegedly accessing a confidential database outside a criminal investigation.
O'Connell initially planned to waive a jury trial Monday morning and move forward with a court trial, but then agreed to accept a guilty plea of only the third-degree felony of tampering with evidence.
"I was a little bit surprised given where we were a couple weeks ago, and what they were asking from us. But today, sometimes when it gets closer to trial negotiations intensify, and I think that's what happened today," said Gwen Howe-Gebers, Henry County Prosecutor, and special assistant prosecutor in this case.
The state will request that the judge dismiss the other charges in this case against O'Connell.
Though it isn't the full potential punishment for wrongdoing, the special prosecutor in this case is satisfied with a guilty plea.
"In sitting down with the family members of Heather Bogle and my investigators from BCI, we thought this was a good resolution to this case," said Howe-Gebers
The third-degree felony of tampering with evidence holds a potential nine to 36 month jail sentence.
O'Connell also was charged with falsification (a first-degree felony), coercion, dereliction of duty, and obstruction of official business (a misdemeanor 2).
He also faced one other charge that was not tied to the Bogle murder investigation. That charge was unauthorized use of Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, a fifth-degree.
Sentencing is scheduled to be held on September 13th.
Former Sandusky County Sheriff Kyle Overmyer had been moved to the Sandusky County jail from his current lodgings at Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution to testify during the trial.
Overmyer is serving four years in prison for after pleading guilty to 13 felonies and one misdemeanor including theft of a dangerous drug and deception to obtain a dangerous drug.
The trial of Daniel Myers, the man accused of killing Bogle, is scheduled to begin in September.
