Payen Gun Case Quietly Closed
BY JEFF SKINNER
SPRINGFIELD - In August, local pillar of the Haitian community in Springfield, Jacob Payen, was charged for bringing a handgun into the Clark County courthouse. According to court records, the sentencing of the case has been completed and Payen has, much inline with his history in Florida, evaded another felony conviction.
After multiple filed continuances, Payen’s case was finally adjudicated after being dismissed from court of common pleas and adjudicated in municipal court. In August, Payen was charged with attempting to bring a handgun into Clark County Courthouse. However, the facts released in the case raised far more questions than answers.
According to a summary report from one of the responding officers, on August 27, Payen entered the courthouse with two other males not named stating they were present to meet with the county prosecutor. Payen handed over a sidebag which was x-rayed at the request of officers who discovered a firearm in it. Payen at that time was questioned about the loaded glock pistol officers immediately discovered, where he informed them he had a CHL issued by the Sheriff’s department and simply forgot it was in the bag. Officers first noted the weight of the bag prior to it being x-rayed as suspicious and possibly containing a weapon. According to the report, officers then confiscated the firearm and permitted Payen to continue his business of meeting the prosecutor, rather than arresting and further questioning Payen about his business and purpose within the courthouse.
Many have been stunned by the turn of events in the case as most individuals would have been immediately arrested for attempting to bring a loaded firearm into the courthouse rather than permitted to continue about their business, let alone that business being to meet with a prosecutor over a case. Further questions about the case have led to significant jaw dropping revelations. According to court records in St. Lucie County Florida., where Payen previously lived, Payen was charged with felony grand theft in 2009. Though the adjudication status reads “Withheld”, this means the charge was kept off certain background checks, but Payen was still forced to fulfill the terms of his probation and adjudicated of the charge. What is perplexing many residents is why Payen was issued a legal CHL license from the Clark County Sheriff’s office with a felony conviction withheld status, which should have caught this.
It is unclear currently if Payen has been released this entire time. However, as a result of the plea deal in the Clark County case, Payen was sentenced to 90 days in jail, forfeiture of the firearm and a fine of $250. Many are calling it a gross miscarriage of justice as the original felony charge of attempting to conceal a weapon into a courthouse was lowered to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report a weapon to an officer during official police business.
Court records from various criminal cases involving Haitians in Springfield have shown that Payen regularly has interjected himself into the criminal proceedings. In at least one police report from a hit and run case, when one suspect received written notice of the charges, they approached Payen who called the responding officer stating he was acting as a translator for the suspect.
In the case of Jacob Payen, a Haitian immigrant who has incurred multiple felony charges in Florida, yet none processed to the fullest extent, was potentially permitted a CHL in Ohio in violation to ORC, and has signed off on multiple LLC’s and nonprofits throughout the city, has immediate access to the county prosecutors and was not immediately arrested when attempting to bring the firearm into the courthouse, has somehow again evaded another felony charge. Some are calling Payen one of the luckiest men in Springfield, while others are asking if there is something else going on behind closed doors.
