COLDWATER — Branch County Circuit Court Judge Bill O’Grady did not think the one month recommended by Michigan Sentencing Guidelines reflected the potential seriousness of the crime of attempting to skim credit card information from area gas pumps.The judge substantially exceeded those now-advisory guidelines to send William Vergara, 37, of Miami, to prison for 17 to 30 months, and Mario Guillermo Lorenta, 48, of Davie, Florida, to prison for 20 to 30 months. [...]
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Judge exceeds guidelines sends, Florida men to prison
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Cell phone photos point to Ort for theft
COLDWATER — Shawn Ort, 33, was out of prison less than a month when he was arrested and charged with a Sept. 8, 2014, home invasion on Herricksville Road in Branch County.Ort, from North Adams, served 16 months in prison for lying to Michigan State Police about the crime and was released on parole on April 21.According to the probable cause affidavit, Ort and friend Joseph Hester visited the home where another friend, Brittni Holbrook, was staying. Holbrook asked the [...]
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Consultants recommend fire equipment replacements
COLDWATER — Consultants Emergency Vehicle Response Fire Protection Services, after a four-month study, is recommending that Coldwater’s Ladder 2, Engine 3 and Truck 8 be upgraded or replaced.The three vehicles are at the end of their useful life and cannot be economically rehabilitated, the company of retired fire officers reported.Coldwater city staff has recommended replacement of Ladder 2 for years. Back in 2008, the estimated cost was $850,000, but has grown [...]
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Deportation sought in domestic case
COLDWATER — Immigration will be notified when Jorge Castillo, 37, is released from his six-month sentence for attempted third-degree domestic violence.Branch County Assistant Prosecutor Scott Smith noted that Castillo had been deported once before, but returned to Branch County.“He has a 10-year history of domestic violence with the same victims,” Smith said, adding that he saw little chance that Castillo would change.“I am sorry for what I [...]
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Burke arraigned in welfare fraud case
HILLSDALE — Garner Lee Burke, 46, of Quincy, appeared in Hillsdale County District Court Monday afternoon for arraignment.He was arrested earlier Monday morning by the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office on a felony warrant authorized Oct. 23, 2015 by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office charging him with welfare fraud.According to the charge sheet, Burke “did, while being a person who was receiving relief under the social welfare act, neglect or [...]
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Kimble to prison for stolen credit card
HILLSDALE — Erin Todd Kimble, 43, of Coldwater, appeared in Hillsdale County Circuit Court Monday morning for sentencing.He was arrested May 4 by the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office and charged with 30 theft-related felonies.The charges included 28 counts of illegal use of a financial transaction device, uttering and publishing and larceny over a $1,000.He pleaded guilty to one count of illegal use of a financial transaction device in a plea bargain [...]
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Burke guilty of welfare fraud
HILLSDALE — Garner Lee Burke, 46, of Quincy, appeared in Hillsdale County District Court Wednesday morning for a probable cause conference.He was arrested May 23 by the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office on a felony warrant authorized Oct. 23, 2015, by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, charging him with welfare fraud.According to the charge sheet, Burke,” did, while being a person who was receiving relief under the social welfare act, neglect or [...]
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Sheriff's union: County may have an agreement
LANSING — The Police Officers Association of Michigan — representing Branch County Sheriff's Office deputies — withdrew its unfair labor practices action Thursday before a scheduled hearing and reached what is hoped will be a new contract, after four years of negotiations.As the hearing was set to open, both sides met with attorneys, then each other. After 90 minutes, an agreement was reached.The BCSO road patrol deputies had refused to sign its new [...]
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Heroin overdose leads to discovery of meth labs
COLDWATER — Rebecca Brouse, 38, is being held under a $100,000 bond, and Donald Kistler Jr., 42, freed on a $25,000 recognizance, as both are being charged with possession of a meth lab and hazardous meth materials after a drug overdose set in motion an investigation by the Coldwater Police Department.An unconscious Kimberly Thorne was taken to Community Health Center of Branch County emergency room by friends and dropped off, as she was suffering from a heroin overdose the [...]
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Butcher receives 9 months
COLDWATER — “We have more jail beds in our county and we are not afraid to use them, “ Branch County Circuit Court Judge Bill O’Grady told Rondee Butcher when he sentenced her to nine months jail, followed by two years of probation.Butcher, 40, was found guilty in just 11 minutes after a one day trial in June of first degree retail fraud– shoplifting. In her past Butcher served only one day jail.A crying Butcher urged the judge to allow [...]
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Branch County man facing prison for meth
HILLSDALE — Timothy Allen Laplante, 51, of Sherwood, appeared in Hillsdale County District Court Thursday afternoon via video teleconference for arraignment.He was arrested Sept. 14 by the Hillsdale City Police Department during a traffic stop on M-99 for no insurance, expired operators license and improper use of a plate.A subsequent search of his vehicle after his arrest led officers to the discovery of methamphetamine.According to the charging document, [...]
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Wayne County man charged with CSC
COLDWATER — Michigan State Police returned a Romulus man, Brian Bostain, 26, to Branch County to face charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.A 7-year-old Quincy girl told her mother that in March, Bostain used a wooden knife to rub her crotch area while at the Quincy home.During the MSP interview of the girl, now 8, she also said Bostain had picked her up with his hands between her legs.Bostain was held on a $10,000 bond on two 15-year felony [...]
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Mother charged in abuse case
COLDWATER — Karah Shepherd, 26, will face three life felonies for child and sexual abuse of her infant son.Shepherd, of Coldwater, was held under a $500,000 bond after a two-month investigation by Michigan State Police. The baby was taken to the emergency room at the Community Health Center of Branch County in July with injuries.Medical staff immediately reported to Child Protective Services, who took custody of the baby boy, only 2 months old at the time.The [...]
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Heinrich sentenced to 25 years for spousal abuse
COLDWATER — With a life-long history of assaults and abuse, Lee Heinrich, 46, was sentenced to 10 to 25 years prison Monday by Branch County Circuit Court Judge Bill O’Grady.Heinrich had pleaded no contest to a third domestic violence charge as a fourth-time habitual offender. He knew as a parolee that he was going back to prison.“She didn’t deserve any of it,” he said of his current wife, Deborah.On June 25, neighbors called Bronson [...]
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Laplante waives preliminary hearings
HILLSDALE — Timothy Allen Laplante, 51, of Sherwood, appeared in Hillsdale County District Court Wednesday morning for a probable cause conference.He was arrested Sept. 14 by the Hillsdale City Police Department during a traffic stop on M-99 for no insurance, expired operators license and improper use of a plate.A subsequent search of his vehicle after his arrest led officers to the discovery of methamphetamine in Laplante’s lunchbox.Laplante was traveling [...]
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Sebring jailed for analogues
HILLSDALE — Joseph Ryan Sebring, 37, of Coldwater, appeared in Hillsdale County Circuit Court Monday morning for sentencing.He was arrested May 12 by the Michigan State Police on a felony warrant charging him with two counts of delivery of a scheduled four controlled substance and one count of possession of analogues.He pleaded guilty to the possession of analogues charge in Hillsdale County District Court in a plea bargain which dismissed the two more serious delivery [...]
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Parish priest removed for financial irregularities
KALAMAZOO — Rev. Richard Fritz, “Father Fritz,” 69, who headed up the parishes of both St. Mary's Assumption in Bronson and St. Barbara in Colon, has resigned amid an investigation into misappropriation of over $100,000 in church funds over the last six years.The announcement was made to both parishes this weekend, and Fritz was removed from his residence at the church in Bronson.After suspected irregularities were reported this spring, an investigation [...]
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Harter facing jail for false pretenses
HILLSDALE — An Athens, Michigan man is facing up to one year in the Hillsdale County Jail for scamming a Hillsdale County woman out of almost $200.The Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office lodged 41-year-old Harold Edward Harter on a warrant for false pretenses under $200 and conspiracy to commit false pretenses less than $200 Monday morning.According to the charging document, on or about July 26, “(Harter) and Mandy Daglow defrauded Irma Jones out of $172 by [...]
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LaPlante guilty of meth possession
HILLSDALE — A Sherwood, Michigan man is facing up to 10 years in prison for possession of methamphetamine after he pleaded guilty to the crime Monday afternoon.The Hillsdale City Police Department arrested 51-year-old Timothy Allen LaPlante Sept. 15 during a traffic stop for no insurance, expired operators license and improper use of a plate.A subsequent search of his vehicle after his arrest led officers to the discovery of methamphetamine.LaPlante pleaded guilty [...]
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Scott pleads guilty to meth possession
HILLSDALE — A Quincy man is facing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of methamphetamine Wednesday morning in Hillsdale County District Court."I was walking down the street by Family Video (in Hillsdale) when the cops stopped me and asked to search my backpack," 19-year-old Damion Scott told Hillsdale County District Judge Sara S. Lisznyai. "They found a baggie with some meth residue, three empty boxes of sudafed and marijuana."The Hillsdale [...]
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