Jerrod Hammond Sentenced to 20 Years in DOC; Steven Sandoval Receives Eight Year Sentence

Posted on Author WKVI

Two sentence hearings were held in Starke Circuit Court on Thursday.

Judge Kim Hall sentenced a man to the maximum prison term allowed for a charge with a Class B felony classification.

Jerrod Hammond pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to amended criminal information and a charge of Child Molestation as a Class B felony. Judge Hall sentenced Hammond to 20 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with no part of the sentence suspended. A second count of Child Molestation as a Class D felony was dropped.

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Starke County Jury Returns Guilty Verdict on Drug Offenses

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

A Starke County jury returned guilty verdicts on two of the three drug charges against a Knox woman late Wednesday. They found Shari Melton guilty of possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana, according to Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff. Melton was found not guilty of possession of precursors or chemical reagents. Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall will sentence her at a later date.

Michael Campbell Receives Ten-Year Prison Sentence

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Michael Campbell was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court on Monday on a charge of Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Class B felony.

Campbell pleaded guilty to the charge in a plea agreement with the state and Judge Kim Hall sentenced Campbell to ten years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. He was ordered to serve a mandatory six year sentence before he could petition the court to modify his sentence. The only way he can petition the court for sentence modification is if he successfully completes drug rehabilitation classes while incarcerated.

Knox Woman Sentenced to 16 Years

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse

A Knox woman received a 16-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in a plea agreement with the state to several charges.

Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall sentenced Sherry Wireman, 51, to ten years in the Indiana Department of Corrections on a charge of Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Class B felony. She was also sentenced to three years on Class D felony charge of Possession of Methamphetamine and an additional three years on a Class D felony charge of Possession of Precursors or Chemical Reagents.

The sentences were ordered to run consecutively for a total of 16 years. She was ordered to have purposeful incarceration and if she successfully completes a drug rehabilitation program while incarcerated, she may petition the court for a sentence modification.

Starke Circuit Court Cancels Morning Hearings

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall

All hearings scheduled for Wednesday morning in Starke Circuit Court have been canceled due to the hazardous travel conditions. If you have a Court hearing for Wednesday afternoon, you should contact the Court prior to traveling to the Courthouse. The court administrator can be reached at 574-772-9146.

Two Men Sentenced in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse
Two sentences were handed down in the Starke Circuit Court yesterday morning, sentencing the men to stays in the Department of Corrections. Zachary Tomerlin and Sammy Bottorff were both sentenced in court on felony charges.

Tomerlin was sentenced to a total of 36 months in the Department of Corrections on charges of Possession of a Narcotic Drug and Resisting Law Enforcement. He was arrested in August and found to be in possession of a narcotic drug and intentionally fled on foot from an officer.

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Tammy Hurt Sentenced to 66 Months

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse
A Grovertown woman pleaded guilty to stealing meat from Five Star and an air conditioning unit from Alco last week in Starke Circuit Court. Tammy Hurt, 41, was arrested in July on 19 preliminary counts of theft after she allegedly stole several packages of meat from the store.

Due to the nature of the thefts from Five Star and Alco, she faced two separate cases in court. In the first case, she pleaded guilty to two counts of Theft as a Class D felony, and in the other case, she pleaded guilty to Theft as a Class D felony and an enhancement charge of Habitual Offender. The remaining charges were dismissed.

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CASA Swearing-In Ceremony Held Friday in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
In a ceremony held open to the public, four Court Appointed Special Advocate trainees were sworn in to their duties by Judge Kim Hall in Starke Circuit Court. Rhonda Adcock, CASA director, said each of the trainees are volunteers with a passion to serve children who have gone through a rigorous screening and training process in order to be available to advocate for children in the court who have been abused or neglected.

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National Adoption Day Ceremony Held in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

Friday was National Adoption Day, offering a time for courts across the country to raise awareness of children in foster care who are ready and waiting to be adopted. Rhonda Adcock, director of the Starke County CASA program, told the audience assembled in the courtroom of the importance of adoption and the effect it can have on a child eagerly awaiting their “forever” family.

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Freet Found Not Guilty

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse
A Knox man was found not guilty after a two-day trial in Starke Circuit Court.

Rodney Freet Jr. was charged with child solicitation after an incident reported in January. A six-member jury in Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall’s court took less than an hour to deliberate and found Freet not guilty of the charge.

Five witnesses for the state were called to the stand while two witnesses were called by the defense, including the defendant.

Starke County Officials Break Ground on New Jail

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Work will start next week on the new Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Detention Center. County officials turned ceremonial shovels of dirt yesterday during the official groundbreaking for the $14 million project. The 146 bed jail will replace the existing 63 bed facility across from the courthouse. It opened in 1976, and Sheriff Oscar Cowen says a lot has changed since he joined the department in May of 1980.

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Wireman Cases Will Not Go to Trial

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse

Sadie Wireman and Michael Wireman’s cases will not go to trial in Starke Circuit Court.

During a hearing held Tuesday, their defense attorney and the prosecuting attorney presented an agreed recommendation for a sentence for their guilty pleas. The mother and son would be pleading guilty to an amended charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance as a Class D felony. Judge Kim Hall will review the recommended sentence and a sentencing hearing was set for Thursday, Dec. 5 at 9 a.m.

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Plea Agreements Rejected in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

Plea and sentencing hearings were held in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning. All plea agreements presented in court were rejected by Judge Kim Hall.

A jury trial was set for Jan. 15 at 9 a.m. for Sarah Mills. Mills, 20, is charged with Possession of a Narcotic (heroin). She was not able to participate adequately when questioned under oath. Police reportedly found a baggie with heroin residue in her vehicle when the vehicle was searched on July 7.

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Wireman Cases to be Joined for One Trial

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse

Defendants Sadie Wireman and her son, Michael, will have their cases joined for a single trial in Starke Circuit Court.

The pair face methamphetamine-related charges. Plea agreements were rejected for the Medaryville duo on June 6th when Michael Wireman did not comply with the requirements with the probation department before his court hearing and Sadie Wireman claimed not to know what methamphetamine was. Judge Kim Hall said he would not accept a guilty plea from her if she didn’t know what the drug was in which she allegedly possessed.

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Nicholas Kasten Found Not Guilty

Posted on Author WKVI

A not guilty verdict was returned in a jury trial conducted in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon.

In just 10 minutes, a six-member jury found Nicholas Kasten not guilty on a charge of Possession of Cocaine, a Class D Felony. Two witnesses were called for the State of Indiana and Kasten, the defendant, was the only witness for the defense.

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Alexander Moy’s Initial Hearing Held in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse
Alexander Moy pleaded not guilty in an initial hearing in Starke Circuit Court to two counts of Unlawful Sale of Wild Animals, a Class D felony.

Moy, 48, of Chicago, was arrested this week after conservation officers conducted a search at his Hamlet property and found evidence that he was buying wildlife from local residents and selling it to markets and restaurants in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood. He’s accused of buying wildlife from members of the public including fish, turtles, raccoons and whitetail deer.

Moy has retained Richard Ballard as his attorney. His first pre-trial conference is set for Dec. 4 and second pre-trial conference is set for Jan. 9. He has bonded out of the Starke County Jail.

Mother and Son Going to Trial in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse
Medaryville residents Michael Wireman and Sadie Wireman are headed to trial and it will be determined at a hearing on Oct. 30 whether or not the pair will be tried at the same time.

Both Michael Wireman and Sadie Wireman’s cases were set for change of plea and sentencing hearings in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning. The court received a letter from both of them stating that they would not be pleading guilty in plea agreements and would like to go to trial.

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