[1]Gary A. Lohr is sentenced for possession of meth and bail jumping
Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A former longtime worker at Maple Lane juvenile detention facility for boys will appeal his drug conviction, saying the insignificant amount of methamphetamine and the jacket it was found in weren’t his.
Gary A. Lohr, 66, was fresh out of prison and getting back on his feet when Centralia police arrested him last December, his attorney told a judge yesterday.
Lohr has fought hard against his addiction, attorney Bryan Hershman said.
“He was born with whatever it is that makes people struggle with this curse, this plague of meth as he calls it,” Hershman said.
A Lewis County Superior Court jury last week found Lohr guilty of possession of methamphetamine and bail jumping. It’s his fourth drug conviction, Deputy Prosecutor Shane O’Rourke noted.
Lohr briefly addressed the judge when given the opportunity.
“Thank you for the court’s time,” he said. “I’m innocent and that’s all I can say.”
Hershman argued for the low end of the standard sentencing range, while the prosecutor argued for the high end.
Judge James Lawler chose the high end and sentenced Lohr yesterday morning to 29 months in prison.
His attorney filed a notice of appeal before Lohr was taken away.
Maple Lane was a state juvenile institution in Grand Mound that has since shut down.