Apr. 15—LIMA — A Lima man was facing the prospect of a jury trial on 12 sex charges involving a minor, but after a plea agreement reached between his attorney and prosecutors, Brevin Luna instead pleaded guilty to three of those charges Tuesday in Allen County Common Pleas Court.
Luna, 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor, both felonies of the second degree, and a second-degree felony charge of pandering sexual material involving a minor. The charges stemmed from incidents in late May 2024 invloving a girl who was 15 at the time, according to court records. This plea agreement eliminated eight other second-degree pandering sexual material charges as well as a second-degree felony of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance.
While none of the charges mandate a prison sentence, potential minimum prison sentences of six to 18 months could be assessed for each fourth-degree felony, while the second-degree felony would carry a minimum prison sentence of two to eight years, which could rise up to 12 years for improper behavior while incarcerated.
A suppression hearing in this case was held in August, with Luna’s attorney Steve Chamberlain asserting that an interview Luna had with a detective at the Shawnee Township Police Department should not be admitted into evidence because Luna’s rights were not properly explained to him. Judge Jeffrey Reed later overruled that motion.
As the hearing began, Chamberlain noted that his client may have difficulty understanding everything presented and may need additional explanation or time to confer with him.
“Although he is competent and tells me he understands [the charges], at certain points he might want to ask questions because he has a — well, he has a lower IQ, but he’s also a very nervous person,” Chamberlain said during the hearing.
During the hearing, Luna asked numerous questions of Reed and frequently requested clarification as he laid out the charges and their prospective penalties, including on his inability to own a firearm due to a felony conviction, what kind of treatment he could expect in prison and if he would be able to go through any subsequent probation in Montgomery County in order to be closer to his mother.
“I just don’t know the law very well, that’s all,” he said at one point.
Reed repeatedly asked Luna if he was certain he wanted to accept this arrangement and if he understood it correctly, making the decision of his own free will. Luna said that he wanted to accept the plea agreement in order to expedite his removal from the Allen County Jail, where he has been detained the past 11 months.
“You don’t understand how these walls [expletive] with your head when you’ve been in there for so long,” he said. “Eleven months really is a long time in county, but it feels like it’s been, like, two years or three years.”
Luna continued to lament his current situation, saying his life “sucks right now.”
“I wish I was never in this position, you know, with this type of situation in my life going on,” he said. “I look like a deadbeat to my whole family.”
Reed reiterated to Luna that he would have more time to be heard on these issues during his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 22.
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