Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall accepted a plea agreement negotiated by Defense Attorney Richard Ballard and the State of Indiana in the case of Argos resident Richard LaFrance.
LaFrance, 21, admitted to Judge Hall that he manufactured methamphetamine at a home in Hamlet on Nov. 5, 2017. A witness who smelled the processing odor called police and LaFrance was later arrested after leaving the scene.
Two weeks later, LaFrance admitted that he fled from police when officers attempted a traffic stop in the area of 800 N. and 1000 E. During the pursuit, he crashed his car in the bank of a creek.
LaFrance pleaded guilty in the plea agreement with the State to resisting law enforcement as a Level 6 Felony for which he will serve two years in the Starke County Justice Center with no part of the sentence suspended. He also pleaded guilty on a count of manufacturing methamphetamine as a Level 4 Felony. He will serve three years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with no part of the sentence suspended. The executed portion of his sentence will be served with Starke County Court Services under the direction of Community Corrections where he will participate in any level of supervision deemed appropriate by officials.
The sentences will run consecutively to each other and consecutively to whatever sentence is imposed on charges pending in two other counties.
Due to credit time, the sentence on the resisting law enforcement charge is satisfied.
