Man Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Trafficking with Inmate in Starke Circuit Court

Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall held the initial hearing for Christopher Gross yesterday, when Gross pleaded not guilty to the charge of Attempting Trafficking with an Inmate as a Class C felony. Gross is accused of being part of a plan to bring contraband into the Starke County Jail, when Lindsey Dennis allegedly helped to hide a controlled substance inside a deodorant container to sneak it in.

A Starke County Sheriff’s Department officer said he had listened to phone recordings at the jail and learned that an inmate, Vincent Rosetti, had allegedly asked a woman to hide tobacco and other items in the deodorant container. On Sept. 26, the officer interviewed Dennis, who reportedly told police that Roseetti had called her and asked her to bring the items in and give them to Gross, an inmate at the time.

Dennis pleaded guilty to the accusations in March, and received a four-year sentence in the Department of Corrections with 18 months suspended. Gross, however, maintains his innocence, pleading not guilty to the charge.

His first pre-trial conference is set for April 17 in the Starke Circuit Court; his second is set for May 16.