Court records show he pleaded guilty to both charges on Thursday. Grubb is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31 and faces up to 16 1/2 years in prison for each charge.
Grubb, who was 17 at the time, broke into a home with a weapon. He was arrested a few weeks later, after his 18th birthday, and booked into the Butler County Jail. Between Christmas Eve and Jan. 3, prosecutors said he tried to hire another inmate, who turned out to be a confidential informant, to kill the witness, paying him a total of $2,600 and telling him he would provide him with a gun.
Court records said Grubb met with the informant to provide details about the victim, including social media accounts, address, the type of car, and family information, down to the bus stop of the victim’s child. Prosecutors had said the man “did not care if the intended victim’s child was also killed during the shooting.”
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Grubb had been in jail on a $100,000 bond on the aggravated burglary charge until Butler County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer McElfresh added a $5 million bond on March 13 for the second charge. Grubb in court called the $5 million “outrageous,” but McElfresh said, “In light of the circumstances and what’s been alleged to this court, I don’t think it’s unreasonable.”
The case had seen multiple continuances, including one after Grubb told the judge his mother wanted to hire an attorney, saying his court-appointed attorney, Arica Underwood, “don’t got the best interest in my case.“
Earlier in the case, Grubb objected to McElfresh joining the two cases, which is a common move for efficiency so that the court could hold hearings simultaneously. Grubb told the court it was “improper” as joining the cases puts him “in a position where defending against one charge makes him look guilty of the other.”
The judge denied a request for Grubb to represent himself until he had a new attorney, indicating a lengthy process and would revisit the matter a couple of weeks later. During that time, Grubb filed multiple pro se motions, including one to receive court funds to hire a private investigator “for the collection of additional evidence, verification of witness statements, and identification of potential discrepancies in the prosecution’s case.”
The motions were denied since Underwood still represented him. Ultimately, no attorney was ever hired, and Underwood continued to represent Grubb.
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
Credit: Michael D. Pitman
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