Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, July 13, 2025
December Shooter Sentenced to 31 Years in Prison
The first of seven suspects to be sentenced out of a December shooting, John “JT“ Hoffer, 29, was sentenced by Judge Gerald Anderson to serve 27 years in prison consecutive (one after the other) to a four-year sentence he is already serving in Ohio prison.
Hoffer was the shooter in a bizarre scenario in which a sexual assault, which occurred in a Swingle street drug house, developed into a night of vigilante justice. The night resulted in the shooting of an innocent man.
Judge Anderson heard lengthy arguments and reviewed the victim impact statement before handing down the maximum, consecutive sentence.
Earlier this week Hoffer pled guilty to three separate counts: one count of felonious assault with a drive by firearm specification, one count of discharging a firearm over a roadway with serious injury, and one count of having a weapon under disability.
“It is gratifying to be able to bring justice for an innocent victim in this case,“ according to assistant prosecuting attorney, John Litle, who handled the case. “As the other members of this group are sentenced, we will have more to say about the violent drug culture which brought on this attack.“
Additional details will follow after the remaining conspirators are sentenced.
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