North Judson Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

A North Judson man was sentenced in three different felony cases in Starke Circuit Court Thursday morning.

Robert Manns, 43, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a Level 6 Felony charge of theft.  Manns admitted in open court that on Feb. 16, 2015 he stole several tools from his neighbor.  

Manns also pleaded guilty in the plea agreement on a Level 6 Felony charge of escape.  On May 20, 2016, while on pre-trial release from a previous case, he told Judge Kim Hall that he cut off his Starke County Community Corrections-issued ankle monitor. 

Additionally, he pleaded guilty in the plea agreement to a Level 6 Felony charge of resisting law enforcement.  On July 1, 2016 a Starke County police officer pursued Manns in a vehicle as he was fleeing from police from his home.  

Starke County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John M. Acosta Jr. told Judge Hall that Manns has an extensive criminal history that includes several failed attempts at probation and home detention so nothing of the sort was being offered in the plea agreement. 

Judge Kim Hall accepted the plea agreement between Manns and the state that orders Manns to be sentenced to 24 months on each count with no time suspended to be served consecutively in the Indiana Department of Corrections for a total of six years.  However, Manns may serve his sentence in the Starke County Justice Center as Manns was convicted on a lower level felony.  He will also pay $30 in restitution to the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and he is to have no contact with the victim in the theft case. 

He has served a total of 896 days in jail which includes good time credit.  That leaves 199 actual days left he will have to serve in the sentencing order.