State v. Ongert, 2016 Ohio 1543

Defendant Gina Ongert burglarized the home of an 83-year-old man and stole numerous firearms plus a theft of a license plate or services (pleaded to burglary, grand theft, and theft). Some firearms remain unrecovered.
Ongert pleaded guilty to three separate counts and was sentenced to an aggregate three-year prison term.
On appeal Ongert argued (1) burglary and theft counts were allied offenses and should have merged, and (2) the aggregate sentence was excessive and the trial court misweighed mitigating factors.
She did not object at sentencing to separate punishments, so review is limited to plain error for merger and statutory-review for sentence.
The court analyzed allied-offense law under State v. Ruff and concluded the offenses were committed separately; thus separate punishments were permitted.
The court also held the trial court considered required sentencing factors and the sentence was within statutory bounds, so appellate reweighing was not permitted under R.C. 2953.08.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether burglary and theft counts are allied offenses requiring merger	State: Offenses are distinct because thefts were separate acts after burglary	Ongert: Burglary and theft are allied and should merge to avoid multiple punishments	Held: No merger — Ruff second-prong satisfied because thefts were committed separately after burglary
Whether appellate court may reweigh sentencing factors or find sentence excessive	State: Trial court properly considered factors; sentence within statutory range	Ongert: Trial court should have given more weight to mitigating factors and imposed a lesser sentence	Held: Appellate court cannot reweigh factors; sentence not contrary to law because court considered factors and stayed within statutory limits

State v. Ruff, 34 N.E.3d 892 (Ohio 2015) (R.C. 2941.25(B) allied-offense test: dissimilar import, separately committed, or separate animus permits multiple convictions)
State v. Rogers, 38 N.E.3d 860 (Ohio 2015) (plain-error standard for unpreserved sentencing/merger objections)
State v. Barnes, 759 N.E.2d 1240 (Ohio 2002) (definition and burden for plain error review)
State v. Johnson, 942 N.E.2d 1061 (Ohio 2010) (former allied-offense plurality analysis; superseded by Ruff)
State v. Mathis, 846 N.E.2d 1 (Ohio 2006) (sentencing findings and limits on appellate review)