State v. Thomas, 2016 Ohio 5057

Defendant Kevin L. Thomas pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to: (1) attempting to corrupt another with drugs (R.C. 2925.02/A(4)(a) and 2923.02) and (2) possession of Xanax (R.C. 2925.11).
The written plea agreement and the plea and sentencing hearings contained an express stipulation that the two counts were not allied offenses of similar import.
The trial court accepted the stipulation, declined to merge the counts, and imposed an aggregate 18-month prison term, fines, and a six-month license suspension.
Thomas appealed, arguing the possession and attempted corruption convictions were allied offenses that should have been merged.
The State argued the allied-offense issue was waived by Thomas’s stipulation in the plea agreement and on the record.
The appellate court affirmed, holding the stipulation waived the protection of R.C. 2941.25 and the trial court did not err.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether possession and attempted corrupting another with drugs are allied offenses requiring merger under R.C. 2941.25	State: The plea agreement and on-the-record statements show Thomas waived allied-offense protection, so no merger required	Thomas: The two convictions are allied offenses of similar import and should have been merged at sentencing	The court held waiver via an express plea stipulation is effective; the trial court did not err in refusing to merge the offenses

State v. Underwood, 922 N.E.2d 923 (Ohio 2010) (holding a defendant may waive R.C. 2941.25 protection by stipulation in a plea agreement and the trial court must still address allied-offense issues unless the parties expressly stipulate otherwise)
State v. Rogers, 38 N.E.3d 860 (Ohio 2015) (confirming a defendant can expressly waive the protection of R.C. 2941.25 by stipulating that offenses were committed with separate animus)