Booking photo for Obten Lather (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — An 18-year-old Providence man has been ordered to serve nine more months in jail for entering a North Logan apartment and threatening to kill the occupants. Obten Lather will remain behind bars since being arrested in May.
Lather participated in a virtual hearing in 1st District Court Monday afternoon, appearing by web conference from the Cache County Jail. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, a second-degree felony; and, two counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
In May, North Park police officers were called to the Bridger Point Apartment complex. Lather had entered an apartment with a knife and threatened two men.
The victims told officers that Lather had punched the first male in the face and held the knife to his chest. He then walked down the hall to a bedroom where the second male was asleep. Lather awoke him and held the knife to his face, threatening that he would “kill him.”
Prosecutors believed Lather suspected the victims had “snitched” on a friend. He did not know them personally.
Officers spotted Lather walking near the apartment complex shortly after the incident was reported. When they called for him to stop so they could question him, he jumped over a fence and fled on foot.
During Monday’s sentencing, public defender Mike McGinnis said the facts of the case are not good and was partially caused by a long addiction to drugs and alcohol. He asked the court to send his client to jail, claiming that a prison sentence would do Lather more harm, making him a more dangerous person.
Lather spoke only briefly. He apologized and said he was taking full responsibility for what he had done.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Griffin Hazzard said even though the defendant was young, he had proven to be a violent criminal. The defendant also had a lengthy criminal history as a juvenile.
Judge Angela Fonnesbeck told Lather she was concerned with his behavior. She sentenced him to serve 270 days in jail and then be placed on probation, refusing to give him any credit for time already served. She also ordered him to have no contact with the victims and complete counseling, warning that she would send him to prison if he violated any part of his probation.
will@cvradio.com