ZANESVILLE, Ohio (AVC News) — A Muskingum County jury took seven minutes to convict a Junction City man accused of supplying his urine to another person attempting to pass a drug test at the Muskingum County Jail.
Robert Givens, 35, was found guilty of tampering with evidence following a jury trial Oct. 22, 2026, according to the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office. He will be sentenced at a later date.
The case began when an individual at the jail requested a drug test to qualify for release on a personal recognizance bond.
Corrections Officer Troy Pontius collected the urine sample but noticed inconsistencies. The sample registered 90 degrees, below the typical temperature of a freshly collected specimen, and tested negative for drugs despite the individual having tested positive for multiple substances days earlier.
Those findings prompted corrections officers to investigate.
Surveillance footage showed Givens and the individual speaking and walking together before exchanging an unidentified item. Givens then placed the item in his pocket and went directly to a restroom urinal.
After Givens finished, the other individual approached the same urinal before immediately going to Pontius to take the drug test.
Although the cameras did not capture the urinals themselves, prosecutors presented the footage, drug-testing results and circumstances surrounding the sample collection to argue that Givens had supplied the urine used in the attempted deception.
The defense suggested the sample could have come from a third person or that the individual being tested had legitimately produced a negative result. The jury rejected those arguments and found Givens guilty after seven minutes of deliberation.
Givens has a prior conviction for forgery.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Lucas Howard prosecuted the case.
The prosecutor’s office said the conviction demonstrates the legal consequences of attempting to manipulate evidence used in court-related decisions.
Last Updated on October 29, 2026 by AVC News
