HAMILTON — A Hamilton man has pleaded no contest to charges of assault and patient abuse involving people with mental retardation in Butler County.

        Jamie Ray Puckett, 27, entered the plea to two counts of each charge Friday and will be sentenced Aug. 3, said Brenda Cox, an assistant prosecutor.

        His co-defendant, Timothy Lee Ivers, 38, of Fairfield, is set for trial in November on one count of each charge.

        The men were indicted in March and accused of incidents authorities said occurred between June 1996 and January 2001 involving three adult male clients of the county's Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

        Officials haven't described how the clients were abused, but said no sexual conduct, serious physical harm or foreign objects were involved.

        Both men, employees of the MRDD board, have been on administrative leave without pay.

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