No jail for woman, 72, who admitted selling drugs

A 72-year-old woman who sold drugs out of her Winton Hills home was sentenced Thursday to five years of probation and six months of house arrest.

Judith Sidwell pleaded guilty earlier this month in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to charges including trafficking cocaine, liquid hashish and the prescription drug Clonazepam.

Sidwell, who in the 1980s was convicted of drug trafficking charges, also pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a gun. Police found a .38-caliber revolver in her home.

Officials said she was selling the drugs online and had set up a website.

In court Thursday, Judge Patrick Dinkelacker said his sentence reflected the unique circumstances of the case as well as Sidwell's age.

"I'm going to give you a shot here," Dinkelacker said. He warned Sidwell that if she violates probation, he will sentence her to 10 years in prison.

Sidwell declined to comment after the hearing.

Sidwell was charged after being shot in the leg during a home invasion and robbery in October 2014. She still has complications from that injury, her attorney, Lisa Rabanus, said in court. A family member on Thursday pushed her in a wheelchair into the courtroom.

While investigating the shooting, police found drugs in her home they said were packaged to sell. Police also found digital scales and marijuana pipes.

Rabanus told Dinkelacker that Sidwell has been a crime victim "on several occasions."

"I think she's finally learned," Rabanus said, "that this type of business is nothing that she wants to engage in."

"This is a pretty dangerous game you were involved in," Dinkelacker told Sidwell.

"After three men came in and shot at me, I realize that," she said.