Tuesday, November 10

Pleads to possession

A Berne woman recently pleaded guilty in Jay Superior Court.

Aaron Crew 33, a former Portland resident, pleaded guilty Nov. 4 to possession of marijuana, a class D felony.

She is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 25 at 9:30 a.m.

She was arrested Jan. 26 after police used a search warrant to search her Portland home and found marijuana.

Husband and wife cases

A rural Portland man and his wife recently appeared in Jay Superior Court in separate cases.

Phillip M. Stahley, 34, pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to a charge of driving a motor vehicle after forfeiture of license for life, a class C felony, in one case, and to two counts of possession of marijuana, both class D felonies, in another case.

Also on Oct. 30, his wife, Tracy J. Stahley, 39, was sentenced on a charge of maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony.

Phillip Stahley is scheduled to be sentenced on both of his charges on Nov. 24 at 3 p.m.

Tracy Stahley pleaded guilty to her charge and was sentenced Oct. 30 to 18 months in the Jay County Jail, with all but 90 days suspended. The remainder of her sentence will be served on electronically monitored home detention.

She was fined $100 and ordered to pay $164 in court costs. She was placed on probation for 18 months. If she successfully completes probation her conviction may be reduced to a class A misdemeanor.

Two charges of dealing in marijuana were dismissed.

She and her husband were arrested by the Tri-County Drug Task Force in August of 2008 for allegedly selling marijuana from their home.

Stahley was arrested on the driving charge on July 19, 2008, after he was pulled over by Portland police.

Sentenced for obstruction

A rural Dunkirk man recently was sentenced to prison time for telling his girlfriend to avoid a subpoena in a case in which he was accused of battering her.

J. Christopher Sargent, 30, was found guilty by a Jay Superior Court jury on Sept. 30 of obstruction of justice, a class D felony.

He was sentenced Oct. 29 to 30 months in the Indiana Department of Correction, with credit for one day served.

He was ordered to pay $164 in court costs.

Sargent was arrested Oct. 11, 2008.

Pleads in tampering

A Fort Recovery man has pleaded not guilty to taking voter registration lists and retention schedules.

Matthew J. Fullenkamp, 34, 404 E. Center St., was arrested Nov. 4 on charges of tampering with records, a third degree felony, and theft, a first degree misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday during his initial hearing in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

A pretrial hearing in his case has been scheduled for Nov. 25. He was released on his own recognizance from the Mercer County Jail on the same day as his arrest.

On Oct. 8, he allegedly went to the board of elections office and asked to review 10 public records. He allegedly left the office with the records. The board of elections staff called police, who stopped Fullenkamp as he allegedly was attempting to drive away from the courthouse. All of the documents were recovered by Mercer County police.

Fullenkamp is the husband of Denise Fullenkamp, former deputy director of the elections office. She was fired in August because of discrepancies with canceled voting registrations.

Police believe Matthew Fullenkamp removed the records because his wife is being investigated, and hoped to hinder the investigation.

Pleads to auto theft

A Pennville man recently pleaded guilty to a felony charge in Wells Circuit Court.

Benjamin M. Squier, 21, pleaded guilty to auto theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 30.

He stole a vehicle on Feb. 12 and was involved in an accident.[[In-content Ad]]