State v. Pugh, 2022 Ohio 3437

Deputies, acting on information from El Paso PD, obtained an anticipatory search warrant for a UPS package shipped from El Paso to Martins Ferry, Ohio.
The package, which contained 77 grams of cocaine, arrived at a local UPS office and was delivered to the Martins Ferry address.
Appellant Donnie Pugh opened the door, brought the package inside, and deputies executing the warrant found he had attempted to flush the cocaine.
A Belmont County grand jury indicted Pugh for trafficking, possession (first-degree), tampering with evidence, and having weapons under a disability; he initially pled not guilty.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Pugh pleaded guilty to first-degree possession of cocaine; the state dismissed the other counts and remained silent at sentencing.
The trial court sentenced Pugh to 10–15 years imprisonment and a five-year license suspension; Pugh appealed raising three assignments of error.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the sentence was an abuse of discretion / based on speculation and whether the court misled Pugh about DOC early-release credit	Sentence is within statutory range; court’s observations (quantity → likely intent) were permissible; DOC comment was accurate as explained	Court speculated beyond plea facts, improperly inferred intent to traffic, and misstated DOC’s ability to reduce sentence	Affirmed: sentence within statutory range; record supports court’s comments; court’s DOC statement was misread by Pugh and not reversible error
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not asserting entrapment	Ineffective claim waived by guilty plea; no claim that plea was involuntary	Counsel should have raised entrapment because deputies’ delivery and knocking induced a crime	Overruled: claim waived because Pugh does not allege his plea was involuntary or unknowing
Whether evidence was insufficient to sustain felony possession conviction	Guilty plea waives sufficiency challenge except to plea defects; no trial record to review	Only evidence was handling the package and attempting to flush drugs—insufficient to support first-degree possession	Overruled: plea waived sufficiency challenge; no record to review

State v. Marcum, 146 Ohio St.3d 516, 59 N.E.3d 1231 (clarifies appellate review standard for felony sentences under R.C. 2953.08)
State v. Thompkins, 80 Ohio St.3d 89, 684 N.E.2d 668 (explains sufficiency-of-the-evidence standard)
State v. Kelley, 57 Ohio St.3d 127, 566 N.E.2d 658 (guilty plea waives appellate challenges except to the plea itself)