An admitted methamphetamine addict was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning.
Brian Tapia, 27 of Plymouth, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a charge of Possession of Methamphetamine as a Class D felony. Judge Kim Hall sentenced Tapia per the plea agreement to 18 months in the Department of Corrections with no part of that sentence suspended. The sentence will be served on home detention with day reporting.
The Indiana Court of Appeals released a decision regarding the charges filed against former Knox High School teacher Robert “Ryan” Corbin.
A hearing was held in September in the Indiana Court of Appeals where oral arguments were heard in the case of Robert “Ryan” Corbin who was accused of two counts of Attempted Child Seduction. It was Corbin’s attempt to overturn Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall’s denial of a motion to dismiss the charges of Attempted Child Seduction against him.
Avery Mullins pleaded guilty to a charge of Dealing a Narcotic Drug – Heroin as a Class B felony. Judge Hall sentenced Mullins to 10 years in the Department of Corrections with no part of that sentence suspended. If Mullins successfully completes the CLIFF or GRIP program while in prison, he may petition the court for a modification of his sentence. Mullins will serve this sentence consecutively with a previous sentence.
Aaron Wireman pleaded guilty to a charge of Counterfeiting and received a sentence of 30 months in the Department of Corrections with no part of the sentence suspended. He will serve this sentence consecutively with a previous sentence.
He previously pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to an amended count of Dealing in Methamphetamine as a Class B felony. Judge Kim Hall sentenced Back to 13 years in the Department of Corrections with no part of that sentence suspended. If he completes a therapeutic community program while incarcerated, he may petition the court for a modification of his sentence.
Back was arrested in May after Starke County Sheriff’s deputies reportedly found him hiding in a bathroom in the Stay-4-Less motel in Knox where methamphetamine-related paraphernalia and precursors were found.
A misdemeanor jury trial held this week in Starke Circuit Court ended with a not guilty verdict for Jennifer Norem, who had been accused of Battery as a Class A misdemeanor and Resisting Law Enforcement as a Class A misdemeanor. The trial took only one day with Deputy Prosecutor Autumn Ferch leading the state’s case and Martin Bedrock defending Norem.
For more information on Congresswoman Walorski and available Congressional services and resources, visit http://walorski.house.gov/services/additional-services-and-resources.
The Starke County Courthouse is located at 53 E. Washington St. in Knox.
Frank Horky pleaded guilty to a charge of Neglect of a Dependent as a Class D felony with other charges dropped including Criminal Recklessness, Intimidation, and Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated. He was sentenced to 18 months in the Department of Corrections with 12 months suspended, and the executed six-month sentence will be served on home detention. He will also serve 12 months on probation.
Kathleen Holt has reportedly reached a plea agreement with the state. In the proposed agreement, Holt would plead guilty to a charge of Murder with a minimum sentence of 45 years and a maximum sentence of 55 years.
“We have pregnant mothers who intentionally abuse drugs, and then their babies are born with harmful drugs in their bodies. Children are often raised around dangerous meth labs, which is an epidemic in this county. Those labs give off toxic chemicals. You know one in four children in Starke County lives in poverty, and we’ve had children living in homes that are completely uninhabitable. We’ve had evidence where snow’s coming through the walls in the winter time,” said Hall.
The trial against a Knox man who was arrested in January on allegations of attempted rape continues today in the Starke Circuit Court. Ryan Povilaitis is charged with numerous felonies and a misdemeanor after he allegedly attacked a woman at a residence they shared and tried to force himself upon her.
Officers were executing an arrest warrant at Watts’ residence in Born’s Trailer Park in North Judson on Tuesday, Aug. 13 and the Pulaski County SWAT Team was called into action when he refused to surrender. Continue reading
The Starke County sheriff’s candidate who is charged with impersonating a corrections officer is due back in Pulaski Superior Court this morning. Greg Wireman’s next appearance before Judge Patrick Blankenship is scheduled at 11:15 a.m. EDT. He entered a plea of not guilty during his initial appearance last month, and his attorney has filed a motion to dismiss all charges filed by Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak after Starke County officials recused themselves. They stem from a Feb. 15 incident at Wireman’s aunt’s rural Starke County home. She called him because three door-to-door vacuum cleaner salespeople were being very pushy and wouldn’t leave her house. They claim Wireman detained them and told them he was a corrections officer.
Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff has formally charged Chapman, 48, with Criminal Recklessness as a Class C Felony and Resisting Law Enforcement as a Class D Felony.
Frank Esparza, Jr., 20, was sentenced on a charge of Dealing in a Narcotic Drug (Heroin), a Class A felony. Judge Kim Hall sentenced Esparza, Jr. to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with no part of the sentence suspended. If he is placed in a therapeutic community while in prison and he successfully completes the program, he may petition the court to modify his sentence after he serves 20 years of his sentence. As part of the plea agreement, charges of Possession of a Narcotic Drug, Maintaining a Common Nuisance and Possession of a Syringe were dropped.
Randall Rowe, 36 of Hamlet, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state in a previous hearing to charges of Robbery as a Class B felony, Battery as a Class C felony and Receiving Stolen Property as a Class D felony. Ten other charges would be dismissed. He was to be sentenced on June 25 but it was continued to allow the state and defense to prepare arguments for the judge to make his decision as to whether the sentences on the counts should be consecutive or concurrent.
Allen Moore, 34 of Knox, admitted to Judge Kim Hall that he did possess a Schedule I Controlled Substance, heroin, when he was arrested on April 4 of this year. At first, he tried to deny that heroin was the controlled substance in his possession, but Judge Hall asked him a series of questions and he admitted that it was heroin in his possession.
