Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Conditional discharge entered for Hannah Diane Ragan, 19, Ossian, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
The duration of the deferred proceedings is one year. If Ragan abides by the rules of the Wells County Probation Department the charges against her will be dismissed.
Ordered to pay $100 in fees.
A sheriff’s deputy was monitoring traffic on North Jefferson Street in Ossian at 12:52 a.m. March 25 when he spotted a 2007 Buick that did not have a lit license plate. He pulled the Buick over. Ragan was a passenger in the car. The deputy observed the interior of the vehicle smelled of marijuana and had the driver and the passenger exit.
During the course of a search of the Buick and Ragan, deputies reportedly located a small plastic bag of a green leafy substance with the odor and appearance of marijuana as well as a vape pen.
The driver of the vehicle, Justice Sierra Madeline Hicks, 22, Ossian, is awaiting trial on charges of possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor; operating a vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in her body, a Class C misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
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Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Joseph Oren Coty, 35, Bluffton, charged with resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor; public intoxication, a Class B misdemeanor; and inhaling toxic vapors, a Class B misdemeanor. Bond continued at $3,500. Jeffrey Stineburg appointed public defender.
At 4:22 p.m. Sept. 13, Bluffton police responded to the 1700 block of North Main Street on a report of a man — possibly a juvenile — walking along a row of pine bushes next to the southernmost building of a business. The male — later identified as Coty — was reportedly slumped over next to the concrete base of a parking lot light pole. When an officer arrived, Coty reportedly took off running — even after the officer yelled at him to stop. Reportedly in the process, his pants fell down causing him to stumble and allowed the officer to catch up. The officer observed that Coty was carrying a brown messenger-style bag and appeared to continue inhaling from a can of canned air. As more officers began to arrive on scene, Coty reportedly turned to face the original officer and took another long “hit” off the aerosol can and then started to run backwards.
The officer was able to grab Coty and eventually secured him in a set of handcuffs. He allegedly had in his possession two cans of air duster and a glass smoking pipe with a white residue in the bowl.
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Deshawn M. Wallace, 36, Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalency of .15 percent or more with a prior conviction for the same or a similar offense, a Level 6 felony, and he admitted to being an habitual vehicular substance abuse offender.
Sentenced to four years in prison with one year suspended. Placed on probation for 180 days following his release from prison.
Ordered to undergo substance abuse counseling, pay the costs associated with his blood test, and pay court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Level 6 felony; speeding, a Class C infraction; and no valid driver’s license in his possession, a Class C infraction, were dismissed.
While patrolling Jefferson Street near LaFever Street in Ossian Jan. 28, 2020, an Ossian police officer clocked a vehicle at 36 mph-25 zone and pulled in behind it as it turned into a driveway just north of Industrial Parkway on the east side of the road.
The officer noted in his court filing that Wallace smelled of alcohol, failed field sobriety tests and tested .153 percent alcohol concentration equivalency on a Breathalyzer test.
Wallace had a prior conviction in Allen Circuit Court for operating a vehicle while intoxicated May 24, 2018.
Wells Circuit Court
Criminal Cases
Sentencing set for 9 a.m. Nov. 9, 2022, for Lawrence H. Dishong, 62, Bluffton, who pleaded guilty to dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 3 felony, and possession of methamphetamine, a Level 5 felony.
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Three-day jury trial set to commence at 9 a.m., June 21, 2023, for James D. Manns, 52, Poneto, charges with battery with bodily injury to a public safety officer, a Level 5 felony, and resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony.
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Brenda Murray, 64, Bluffton, pleaded guilty to dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony.
Ordered to serve six years in prison. The court will consider a modification of the sentence but not before the equivalent of three years of the sentence have been served. She was credited for spending 224 in confinement awaiting disposition of her case. Said credit of days are to be considered in assessing good conduct time credit.
Ordered to pay a $250 drug interdiction fee and $185 in court costs.
As part of a plea agreement, one count of dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 2 felony; one count of possession of methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony; and four counts of unlawful possession of a legend drug, all Level 6 felonies, were dismissed.
On Oct. 14, 2021, law enforcement, at the request of Murray’s probation officer, searched Murray’s Hi Lo Drive residence.
During the course of the search, officers found a mirror with white residue, an open clear plastic bag containing white rocky chunks, a pocket scale containing a white residue, a pill bottle containing the prescription antibiotic clindamycin lettered for someone other than Murray or her husband; a pill bottle containing Fluconazol, a prescription medication for which neither Murray nor her husband, had a prescription; a hollowed out pen casing containing a white powdery substance; a gift card with a crystalline substance on it; two small drinking straws containing white residue; two pill crushers containing white residue; a small piece of foil containing burned chunks of crystalline substance; and prescription medication scattered in a dresser drawer.
