Paycheck Guilty in Shooting, Gets 9 1/2 Years

HILLSBORO, Ohio —  Country and Western singer Johnny Paycheck was found guilty Friday of shooting a man in a bar after an argument, and he was sentenced to up to 9 1/2 years in prison.

Paycheck, who showed no emotion when the verdict was read in Higland County Common Pleas Court, was convicted of a reduced charge of aggravated assault and tampering with evidence for disposing of the gun in the shooting of Larry Wise of Greenfield.

Paycheck was acquitted of carrying a concealed weapon.

The assault conviction includes a specification that Paycheck was possessing a weapon during the crime, a finding that carries a mandatory three-year sentence.

In addition, Judge Darrell R. Hottle sentenced Paycheck to 2 1/2 to 5 years in prison for aggravated assault and 1 1/2 years for tampering with evidence. The sentences are to be served consecutively.

Paycheck’s lawyer, Ralph Buss, said he would appeal the verdicts and called the sentence “unduly harsh.”

Paycheck, 47, was charged with felonious assault, carrying a concealed weapon and tampering with evidence for allegedly discarding the .22-caliber handgun used in the Dec. 19 shooting in Hillsboro’s North High Lounge.