Wells Superior Court
Criminal Cases
Order of conditional discharge entered for Cody Skylar Lee Drake, 18, Bluffton, charged with possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.
The duration of deferred proceedings is one year. If Drake follows the rules set for him by the Wells County Prosecutor’s office, the charges against him will be dismissed.
Ordered to pay $100.
At 1:34 a.m. Sept. 4, Bluffton police responded to a residence in the 900 block of South Johnson Street on a report of several juveniles in a pickup truck smoking marijuana.
The first officer to arrive noticed the pickup truck parked behind the residence and the young people inside. Upon engaging them in conversation, the officer observed that the interior of the vehicle had a strong odor of marijuana emanating from it.
Drake was seated in the driver’s seat and reportedly had a strong odor of marijuana emanating from him. Drake reportedly denied there was anything illegal in the pickup truck and told the officer he could search the truck.
The officer took Drake up on the offer and allegedly found a “Rick and Morty” marijuana grinder with residue in it, a red and green pipe with a face on it with marijuana residue in the bowl, a plastic container marked Lume Cannabis Company with marijuana inside the container, and an orange and pink glass bong with burned marijuana residue inside it.
The officer displayed the alleged evidence in front of Drake and asked him again about the presence of illegal substances in the vehicle. Drake reportedly apologized.
The three passengers in the pickup truck were released to the custody of their parents.
———
Michael K. O’Rourke, 37, Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty to invasion of privacy, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but 90 days suspended, credited as time served, and placed on probation for 255 days.
Ordered to have no contact with the protected party. Assessed court costs and probation fees.
As part of a plea agreement, two other counts of invasion of privacy, both Class A misdemeanors, were dismissed.
O’Rourke was the suspect in a domestic violence incident and has a protective order filed against him by Allen Superior Court. He reportedly attempted to contact the protected party in the case on at least three separate occasions.
———
John Tilbury, 30, Ossian,m pleaded guilty to invasion of privacy, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to a year in the Wells County Jail, with all but 30 days suspended, and placed on probation for 335 days.
Ordered to have no contact with the protected party in the case and pay court costs and probation fees.
Tilbury was charged with violating a no contact order issued as part of an ongoing investigation. The violation occurred at the Ossian All American Deli where the protected party was working Nov. 3, 2022.
Tilbury was also found in violation of a June 6, 2022, sentencing for battery, a Class B misdemeanor.
He was ordered to serve 88 days in the Wells County Jail — credited as time served — and pay $225 in fees.
———
One-day jury trial set for 8:30 a.m. April 11 for Dustin Lee Joseph Weimer, 34, Markle, charged with intimidation of a police officer, a Level 6 felony, and resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor.
———
Dane Jonathon Miller, 38, New Haven, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe, both Level 6 felonies.
Sentencing set for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 16.
———
Jessica Fuentes, 29, Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty to driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor.
Sentenced to 72 days in the Wells County Jail — credited as time served — fined $14.50 and assessed court costs of $185.50.
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Jessica Fuentes, 28, Fort Wayne, charged with driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor. Allison Sprunger appointed public defender.
While monitoring traffic on Jefferson Street in Ossian Aug. 26, 2022, an Ossian police officer decided to perform a license plate check on a Kia Forté that passed by him. The officer followed the vehicle and pulled it over near U.S. 224.
The officer spoke with the driver, identified as Jessica Fuentes. She reportedly admitted knowing that she was driving while suspended. She had two active suspensions against her driver’s license at the time of the traffic stop and a prior suspension from Feb. 9, 2021, adjudicated in Allen County Superior Court 4.
———
Corben Ruse, 30, Fort Wayne, pleaded guilty to auto theft, a Level 6 felony.
Sentenced to two years in prison. Credited for 78 days spent in confinement awaiting disposition of his case. Ordered to pay $185 in court costs.
As part of a plea agreement an habitual offender enhancement against Ruse was dismissed.
On Dec. 3, while on patrol, a Bluffton police officer received a “Flock” alert. Flock is a system of surveillance cameras that monitor license plates and alert law enforcement when a license plate for a vehicle that is wanted by law enforcement, for whatever reason, passes the camera. In this case, the Flock had read a license plate belonging to a 2018 Volkswagen Jetta that had been reported stolen in Noble County Nov. 18.
While patrolling the area of Midway and South streets, the officer spotted a vehicle matching the description of the one stolen parked at a residence. The officer knocked on the door of the residence and a man answered the door, The man explained that the vehicle did not belong to him but rather to his “buddy” who turned out to be Ruse.
Ruse denied driving the vehicle to the residence, instead claiming a female acquaintance had driven to the residence and then “dipped,” a slang term meaning to leave suddenly. However Ruse reportedly became upset and evasive in his answers when the officer asked him if he thought his DNA would be on the steering wheel of the car.
There was also an active warrant issued by Whitley County Superior Court on Ruse for violating probation from a March 14, 2022, conviction for driving while suspended with a prior conviction for the same offense, a Class A misdemeanor.
Civil Cases
Complaints for possession and for non-payment of rent dismissed by Premier Flats, Bluffton, for tenants: Edwin Wheeler, Corey Lechleinder and Joshua Suarez, Marshall Scott.
Judgment of $2,588.34 plus court costs and writ of possession entered for Premier Flats against tenant Anthony Hamlet.
Judgments and writs of possession entered for SMS Property Management, Fort Wayne, against: Chelsea Caldwell, Bluffton; Briann Black and Joseph Rollins, Bluffton; Andrew B. Smith and Samantha Ybarra, rural Ossian.
Marriage of Julie A. Patterson and David S. Patterson dissolved. Her former name of Browning restored to her.
Marriage of Amanda Lehrman and Richard Lehrman dissolved. Her former name of Gatto restored to her.
Wells Circuit Court
Criminal Cases
Preliminary plea of not guilty entered for Daniel E. Gonzalez, 38, Hudson, charged with child molesting, a Class A felony. Bond continued at $30,000. Larry Mock appointed pauper counsel.
Gonzalez is charged with having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 sometime between January and November of 2014.
Civil Cases
Name of Laila Chea Stein, a minor child, by her next friend Royce Mason, changed to Laila Chea Mason.
