Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Joshua M. Sergent, 35, rural Bluffton, charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. Bond continued at $5,500. Jeffrey Stineburg appointed public defender.
Sergent was arrested following a search of the apartment where he was staying Nov. 9, 2021. The Wells County Probation Department requested the search after learning that a probationer who was also staying at the apartment might be in the possession of and using drugs.
Methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and prescription pain medications for which no one living at the address had a prescription were all reportedly found in the apartment.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Morgan Jo Sawyer, 27, Bluffton, charged with possession of marijuana, with a prior conviction for the same offense, and possession of drug paraphernalia, with a prior conviction for the same offense, both Class A misdemeanors.
Larry Mock appointed public defender.
Ordered to pay a supplemental public defender service fee of $50.
Sawyer was staying at the same address as Sargent at the time of the search.
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Two-day jury trial set to commence at 8:30 a.m. May 17 for Mackenzie Morrison, 32, Montpelier, charged with operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more with a prior conviction, operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction and operating a vehicle after having been found to be an habitual traffic violator, all Level 6 felonies; and motor vehicle not equipped with two stop lamps, a Class C infraction.
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Jackson Conner Roller, 20, Uniondale, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor; maintaining a common nuisance, a Level 6 felony, and to failure to appear in court for a hearing on the charges, a Class A misdemeanor. The felony was reduced to a misdemeanor by the court.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but 30 days suspended, on the maintaining a common nuisance charge; four days in the Wells County Jail on the marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges; and one year in the Wells County Jail on the failure to appear charge.
All but 30 days of the sentence in the maintaining a common nuisance charge were suspended, all of the sentence in the failure to appear charge was suspended and the four days were credited as time served in the possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges.
Ordered to serve 180 days of home detention in lieu of serving jail time and to pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of illegal possession of an alcoholic beverage, a Class C misdemeanor, possession of a Schedule I, II, III, or IV controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor, and two other counts of possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor, were all dismissed.
On Jan. 23, 2020, a sheriff’s deputy was requested by the mother of a teenager to check Roller’s Uniondale residence. She believed her son was doing drugs at the residence. When a sheriff’s deputy arrived he spoke with the teen, whom he observed in his report smelled strongly of marijuana, as did the interior of the residence. There were three other people inside the residence besides the son of the woman who made the call. All were later arrested.
Allegedly during a search of Roller’s house, in addition to finding a sign that read “Support your local drug dealer,” the officers searching the residence found multiple items of drug paraphernalia, marijuana that allegedly was shared by anyone in the house who wanted to use it, synthetic marijuana and a prescription muscle relaxant for which no one in the house had a prescription.
Roller was then arrested Jan. 31, 2020, after sheriff’s deputies and a state trooper responded to his residence on a report of a possible underage drinking party. The caller also reported being able to smell marijuana.
Reportedly a sheriff’s deputy located a pipe with which to smoke marijuana and residue inside the pipe in Roller’s bedroom.
Roller was scheduled to appear in Wells Superior Court for a hearing on the charges on Jan. 10, but failed to appear.
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Demetrius Robinson Jr., 26, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to failure of a sex offender to possess identification, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but two-days suspended — credited as time served, and placed on probation for 363 days.
The term of the sentence is to be served consecutively with a term meted in Allen County Superior Court for violating probation from a Nov. 12, 2021, conviction for sexual misconduct with a minor, a Level 4 felony.
Ordered to comply with all of the rules of his probation and pay court costs and probation fees.
Robinson was charged with failing to update his Indiana identification card to show his new address.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Levi J. Salyer, 25, Bluffton, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor. Bond continued at $2,000.
Salyer was participating in the Wells County Community Corrections home detention program, Aug. 31, 2021, when Bluffton police received a report from a community corrections officer suspicious that Salyer might be selling THC vaping cartridges at his workplace. He reportedly had purchased the cartridges legally in Michigan but then transported and was selling them illegally in Indiana. Salyer had recently been dismissed from his job.
Bluffton police officers searched the residence where Salyer was living and allegedly discovered in the bedroom where Salyer was staying a small plastic bag of a green leafy plant material with the odor and appearance of marijuana, a dark-colored glass smoking pipe, and a grinder containing a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana.
A preliminary plea of not guilty was also entered for Salyer in a separate case in which he is charged with escape and theft, wherein the value of the property exceeds $750, both Level 6 felonies.
Bond in that case was set at $10,000.
On Nov. 10, 2021, while still participating in the Wells County Community Corrections home detention program, Salyer allegedly deviated from the route that he was to take from his South Johnson Street apartment to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne.
The state filed notice of its intent to seek habitual offender status for Salyer.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Kyle David Beers, 33, Bluffton, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor. Larry Mock appointed public defender.
On Dec. 24, 2021, Beers reportedly drove a black sport utility vehicle into the path of a state trooper’s patrol vehicle, causing the trooper to slam on the brakes. The trooper then decided to check the information on the license plate on the sport utility vehicle and it returned as belonging to a white Saab.
The trooper spoke with the driver, identified as Beers, and reportedly noticed there was an odor of marijuana emanating from the interior of the sport utility vehicle.
Beers reportedly admitted to the trooper that he had a small plastic bag of marijuana in his pocket along with a vaping pen containing a THC cartridge.
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Sentencing set for 1 p.m. March 4 for Brandon Michael Shockome, 28, Lafontaine, who pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony.
