A Starke County man was sentenced to ten years in the Indiana Department of Corrections in a hearing held in Starke Circuit Court Tuesday morning.
Jacob Nemeth, 23, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a charge of incest as a Class C felony in a hearing on May 20 and he also admitted to a probation violation.
In his overview of the case, Judge Kim Hall noted that Nemeth previously had been in a car accident that caused a severe brain injury. Nemeth said he was self medicating with drugs and alcohol. Judge Hall also noted that Nemeth had been in a treatment program before and while he successfully completed the program he didn’t apply what he learned and still continued to abuse alcohol.
There were no mitigating factors found in Nemeth’s case. Judge Hall stated that Nemeth’s criminal behavior, substance abuse and the fact that he was a high risk to re-offend were aggravating factors.
Judge Hall rejected the plea agreement that had been submitted to the court. He explained that since the plea agreement was submitted after the deadline he could hand down a discretionary sentence. With that, Judge Hall sentenced Nemeth to eight years in the DOC on the charge of incest and two years on the probation violation. No part of either sentence was suspended. He will serve those sentences consecutively for a total of ten years.
Nemeth was encouraged to seek substance abuse treatment programs while incarcerated. If he completes programs and can prove to the judge that he has applied what he’s learned, he may petition the court for probation or home detention.
Judge Hall warned that there were no guarantees that would happen but his could file that petition.
Nemeth is to have no contact with the victim throughout the execution of his sentence. He cannot appeal his sentence with the dismissal of a charge of rape.
