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Teen sentenced to six years for dealing drugs |
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Tuesday, December 18 2007 |
By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff writer
A 19-year-old Columbia City man who pleaded guilty to two counts of selling methamphetamine, two counts of selling marijuana and one count of possession of marijuana received a six-year prison sentence Monday morning in Circuit Court.
Kory W. Wogoman will also spend four years on probation and was ordered to pay $1,160 in restitution to the drug task force.
Wogoman received one and one-half years for each of the marijuana sales charges and one year for the possession charge to be served concurrently with the meth charge of 10 years with six to serve.
His attorney, Brad Baber, argued for concurrent sentences and told the court the same informant made all the buys from Wogoman.
“He’s not a dealer; the informant kept calling him and enticed him into it,” Baber said. “He’s lost his chance to join the military, lost his chance to hunt and lost his car to the state.”
Baber pointed out that his client had no criminal history and was only 18 when the crimes were committed, calling it a “significant” mitigator.
Prosecuting attorney Matt Rentschler acknowledged Wogoman had no criminal record but added, “He committed a crime (selling meth) that is very serious. Four different times in the course of two months (he sold drugs). If that isn’t a drug dealer I don’t know what is.”
Wogoman told the court, “I just got caught up in it and let a friend talk me into it.”
Judge James Heuer asked Wogoman, “How may times do you have to sell drugs before you’re classified as a drug dealer? Is there some scale I don’t know about? I think you can be classified as a drug dealer.”
In other cases Monday morning:
• Bruce A. Mayhew, 39, of Columbia City, received a six-year sentence with four to be served at the Indiana Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to a charge of incest, a Class C felony.
His attorney, Brad Voelz, pointed out to the court that Mayhew had never been convicted of any crime before and had fully cooperated with the investigation.
“He never assigned blame to anyone,” Voelz said.
Mayhew told the court, “I’m sorry I did it, and it will never happen again.”
The probation department report said that Mayhew violated a position of trust, and Rentschler said, “I believe the aggravating circumstances suggested by probation are supported by evidence.”
Heuer said Mayhew did violate a position of trust and did blame the victim for his actions.
Mayhew also must meet the sexual offender conditions of probation.
• Brian J. Dear, 41, of Columbia City, received a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to theft and had his sentence enhanced by three years for being a habitual felony offender for a total of six years.
Dear had written 53 bad checks around town and pleaded guilty to one count of theft.
His attorney, Voelz, acknowledged Dear’s criminal history dated back to 1984 and included charges of conversion, deception and forgery.
“He owes $7,432 in restitution, and this is real money that people he took it from won’t get back. His criminal record shows that he has continued taking things from people. Mr. Dear is someone we’ll be dealing with until his dying day.”
Heuer told Dear, “You turned 18 in January 1982 and since you’ve been 18 until you’re 41 you have spent most of your adult life in jail or in prison. I see no indication you can function as a law-abiding citizen.”
He noted that Dear has three felony and six misdemeanor convictions as well as an enhancement as a habitual felony offender.
• Amanda A. Wilkinson, 20, of Pierceton, who was on probation for theft, had her bond revoked and was sent back to jail for missing meetings with her probation officer. She had been given a three-year sentence in December 2005.
Heuer will decide her case Dec. 26.
• John N. Severit, 21, of Columbia City, pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery, all Class C felonies, one charge of auto theft and one count of possession of paraphernalia. Because he has a prior felony conviction, he will be sentenced to at least two years in jail when he is sentenced Jan. 14.
• Justin S. Morphew, 17, of Columbia City, had his home detention revoked and was sent back to jail for 60 days beginning Dec. 28. He had failed to abide by home detention rules on three successive days by failing to report his whereabouts.
• James E. Austion, 49, of Fort Wayne, had his bond set at $694 on a charge of deception.
• Ricky L. Hardesty Sr., 39, of Fort Wayne, will enter the deferred prosecution plan in lieu of facing a charge of check deception.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, December 19 2007 )
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