Spending the majority of his adult life in prison, a Zanesville man is heading back to prison for his longest stint yet after kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and leading her on what the man’s defense attorney referred to as “a night of horror.”

Joseph Hicks, 39, will spend nearly 23 years in prison after he was sentenced Monday afternoon. At the time of the offense, Hicks was on post release control from his last series of offenses — with 711 days left in his post release control, all of those days were added as additional time to his  21-year sentence.

On May 1, Hicks pleaded guilty to one first-degree felony count of kidnapping with a three-year mandatory firearm specification, one second-degree felony count of felonious assault with a one-year mandatory firearm specification, one third-degree felony count of having a weapon under disability and one fifth-degree felony count of theft of a credit card.

In October, five months after Hicks was released from prison, he kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and took her on an evening-long spree of abuse.

At first, the victim willingly got into the car with Hicks. From there, the situation escalated.

Throughout the drive, Hicks would stop and beat the woman, attempt to rape her and choke her. At one point, he choked her until she fell unconscious and urinated herself, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ron Welch said in court.

Welch added that Hicks “beat, kidnapped, attempted to rape, beat some more and stole from the victim in this case.”

On a few separate occasions, Hicks took the woman to drug houses in order for him to purchase methamphetamine using her money. When he exited the car, Hicks would tell the victim to stay inside. She complied.

“She was fearful that if she got out of the car, he would catch her and kill her,” Welch said in court. “That’s how fearful she was.”

Hicks would not let the woman leave the car or call for help. During the drive, he threw her phone out the window, Welch said.

The victim was able to escape after Hicks left the vehicle with her inside at Putnam Landing Park as he went to get gas.

A Zanesville Police Officer encountered Hicks as he was exiting the park. Upon pulling into the park farther, the officer noticed the shaking woman in the car and approached her. She was barefoot and bruised, Welch said.

Prior to the offenses in this case, Hicks has been in and out of prison for a majority of his adult life. Welch stated that Hicks has seven prior prison numbers and has accumulated 12 felonies over the 34 months he was not incarcerated.

Taking the facts of the case into account, as well as Hicks’ lengthy criminal history, the State requested a 26-year sentence.

“Prison is appropriate for the most violent offenders, and this defendant meets that description,” Welch said.

Hicks’ defense attorney, Keith Edwards, did not dispute any facts, nor Hicks’ criminal history, stating that he commended law enforcement, as well as the victim, for their work on this case as Hicks’ indictment was carrying the possibility of over 15o years in prison for his original indictment. 

In explaining Hicks’ extreme actions, Edwards said that Hicks was using methamphetamine at the time and acquired the drug four or five times throughout the kidnapping spree.

Hicks also attempted to explain his actions, although he said he accepts sole responsibility for his behavior and the harm that was imposed on the victim.

“I wanna apologize to (the victim),” Hicks said. “I was on drugs real bad, and I don’t even remember what happened that day.”

Hicks added that he’s “going to pay for it.”

After commenting on Hicks’ extensive criminal record, Judge Kelly Cottrill imposed a 21 year sentence with the extra 711 days applied to his time.