A sentence modification was approved in the case of Douglas Beem.
He requested the judge to move from Community Transition Program (CTP) to probation and/or to home detention. The state objected to a move to probation but accepted a move to daily reporting home detention with Starke County Community Corrections. The request was granted by Judge Kim Hall.
A defendant will serve time on probation after his case was settled in Starke Circuit Court on Monday.
Ethan Hill pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a charge of theft as a Level 6 felony. Judge Kim Hall accepted the plea agreement which called for 12 months in the Indiana Department of Corrections with 12 months suspended to be served on probation.
Robert Corbin’s case will go to trial.
Corbin appeared with his attorneys Friday morning for a status hearing in his case in Starke Circuit Court. Indiana Supreme Court justices unanimously reversed an Indiana Court of Appeals’ decision recently to dismiss the case where two felony counts of attempted child seduction were filed against Corbin.
A Walkerton woman was sentenced on a reduced charge in Starke Circuit Court Thursday morning.
Tamara Esparza pleaded guilty to an amended charge of neglect of a dependent as a felony. However, due to her lack of a criminal record, her cooperation with a drug investigation and her ability to do what’s best for her situation and her daughter, the felony count was reduced to a misdemeanor as ordered by Judge Kim Hall. The order was also made so she could remain gainfully employed.
A Knox man with an extensive criminal history is headed back to prison for the sixth time in his life.
James Royce, 44, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to felony charges of residential entry and escape and a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief in two separate cases. The state and defense argued Royce’s sentence to Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall.
In one case, Royce admitted that he forced his way into his aunt’s home without an invitation. In the second case, he admitted to escaping the custody of a jailer who was escorting him from the courthouse to the Starke County Jail. Royce had appeared for a hearing in Starke Circuit Court and Judge Hall ordered him back to jail. Royce admitted that he “panicked” and ran. The jailer suffered an injury chasing after Royce. Royce was apprehended approximately 20 minutes after he escaped custody. He also admitted to tampering with the GPS ankle bracelet he was wearing as he had been on home detention through Starke County Community Corrections.
A South Bend man was sentenced Tuesday morning in Starke Circuit Court after pleading guilty to an amended count of child molesting as a Class C felony.
A plea recommendation was offered in the case of Adam Obomsawin which Judge Kim Hall accepted. Judge Hall sentenced Obomsawin, 36, to six years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with two years suspended to be served on probation. In addition, Obomsawin was ordered to undergo sex offender treatment. Upon the successful completion of that course, he may petition the court for a modification of the sentence. He is to have no contact with the victim during the execution of his sentence.
The man accused of beating his estranged wife to death at his home in Knox, kidnapping an employee at gunpoint and fleeing in a vehicle from Mark Bailey’s Discount Center in North Judson and carjacking a vehicle from a residence in English Lake at gunpoint on June 6 was in court Friday morning to see if he has secured counsel.
A Starke County man was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Monday morning on several drug charges.
Corbin Gayheart pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to three charges in two separate cases. Judge Kim Hall accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Gayheart per the terms of that agreement.
Gayheart will serve 10 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with two years suspended on a charge of possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a public park as a Class B felony. He was given an 18-month sentence with no part of the sentence suspended on a charge of possession of precursors or chemical reagents with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine as a Class D felony. Those sentences will run concurrently, or at the same time.
Steven Richie was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court on Thursday morning.
Judge Kim Hall accepted a plea agreement between Richie and the State of Indiana in which Richie pleaded guilty to a possession of marijuana charge plus a charge of possession of marijuana with a previous conviction to merge into one Class D felony charge. Richie was sentenced to serve 20 months with no part of the sentence suspended.
Two sentence modification requests were brought before Judge Kim Hall in Starke Circuit Court on Wednesday morning. Continue reading
Two defendants will be going to trial after hearings this week in Starke Circuit Court.
Chase Mareska failed to provide proof of acceptance to home detention as outlined in his plea agreement. Judge Kim Hall rejected his plea agreement and set his case for trial on Sept. 3 at 9 a.m.
Two Knox residents were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Thursday morning.
Gordon Sheib, Jr., 40, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to charges of neglect of a dependent and false informing. He admitted in court that he told his daughter to live elsewhere when she was a dependent child in his custody. At the time of the incident, Sheib told police that his daughter was emancipated when she in fact was not.
A Knox woman is going to prison after a sentencing hearing yesterday morning.
Tiffany Witham, 32, admitted to a probation violation and to a charge of possession of a controlled substance as a Class D felony.
She was arrested in February after a traffic stop in North Judson where she was in possession of a controlled substance without a doctor’s prescription. Probation officer Annette Warkentien testified during the hearing stating that Witham lacked cooperation with the department. While Witham admitted that she had a drug problem, she would not follow through with treatment programs.
A Monterey man pleaded guilty to marijuana charges and was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court on Wednesday morning.
Roland Minix, 49, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of marijuana under 30 grams and possession of marijuana with a prior conviction.
Three Knox residents were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning.
Kayla Maassen, 21, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a legend drug, both Class D felonies. She was sentenced to serve 18 months in the Indiana Department of Corrections with nine months suspended to be served on probation on each charge. The remaining part of the sentence was permitted to be served with Starke County Community Corrections with daily reporting. The sentences will run concurrently, or at the same time.
Alexis Houston was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Tuesday morning.
Houston previously pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to charges of possession of methamphetamine as a Class D felony and visiting a common nuisance as a Class B misdemeanor.
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall accepted the plea agreement. Houston was sentenced to two years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with one year suspended to be served on probation on the charge of possession of methamphetamine. She was also sentenced to serve six months in the Starke County Jail with no part of the sentence suspended on the charge of visiting a common nuisance. The sentence was permitted to be served on home detention.
The sentences will run concurrently, or at the same time.
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall sentenced defendants in court Thursday after conducting several hearings.
Joshua Hansen, of Hamlet, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to charges of dealing in methamphetamine as a Class B felony and maintaining a common nuisance as a Class D felony. Judge Kim Hall accepted the plea agreement and Hansen was sentenced per the terms of that agreement. Hansen will serve eight years in the department of corrections with two years of the sentence suspended on the charge of dealing in methamphetamine and 18 months with no part of the sentence suspended on the charge of maintaining a common nuisance. He will serve two years on probation. If he successfully completes the CLIFF or GRIP program or other purposeful incarceration, he may petition the court for a modification of his sentence.
Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall rejected a plea agreement in the case of Sally Morin in a hearing Wednesday morning.
Morin, 48, of San Pierre is accused of arson with the intent to defraud as a Class C felony. It is alleged that she intentionally set her kitchen on fire at her Knox home by pouring gasoline and lighting it on fire on March 27, 2013. She admitted to the act in court in that she initially meant to claim insurance money.
Two offenders were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court on Wednesday morning.
David Risner, 54, of North Judson pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a charge of possession by a meth offender as a Class D felony. Risner purchased a product containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine and he wasn’t aware that it was against the law for him to purchase it. He was previously convicted on a possession of precursors or chemical reagents charge in June 2011 and by law he cannot purchase that certain product with that prior conviction. Continue reading
A 12-member jury has returned with a verdict a trial in Starke Circuit Court.
The jury members took 50 minutes to find Brad Allen guilty on charges of dealing in methamphetamine as a Class B felony and possession of precursors or chemical reagents as a Class D felony.
