XENIA — Saul C. Chavez Sr., 23, of Fairborn, plead guilty in Greene County Common Pleas Court Feb. 15 to one count of child endangering, a second-degree felony.
Chavez was previously facing two counts of child endangering, the second being a third-degree felony, but took a plea deal made between his attorney Jay Carter and Greene County Assistant Prosecutor Alice DeWine, in which Chavez would change his not-guilty plea to guilty in exchange for one of the charges getting dropped.
He changed his plea with the assistance of Court Interpreter Bill Hargis.
Chavez will appear in court for sentencing 10 a.m. Friday, March 31. A child endangering charge carries a maximum potential sentence of up to eight years in addition to a $15,000 fine, none of which Judge Michael Buckwalter said are mandatory. The charge also carries a mandatory post release control sentencing for three years. Buckwalter highlighted that he is required by law to consider Chavez for post community control, but nothing is guaranteed.
Chavez is not a United States citizen. Therefore, he is also facing the potential of deportation and the denial of naturalization, among other similar possibilities. He will now work with the Greene County Adult Probation Department, which will compile a pre-sentencing investigation and report for Buckwalter to assist in his sentencing decision. Buckwalter encouraged Chavez to be cooperative, honest and candid when working with the department.
Chavez was arrested Sept. 26 after Children’s Medical Center reported that a 2-month-old infant suffered injuries consistent with child abuse. Chavez was booked in the Fairborn Jail Sept. 28. He was arraigned Sept. 29 and booked in the Greene County Jail on a $200,000 bond with no 10 percent, where he remains.
Carter said the infant, Chavez’s son who is now nine-to-10 months old, was able to make an “amazing recovery” despite suffering brain bleeding and bruising as well as seizures.
