Kevin Bronson

WARSAW — Keven L. Bronson, who has been in prison since his Jan. 1, 2015, arrest on the charges which prompted a special prosecutor calling a grand jury, has a criminal history with cocaine.

His current charges, in which he is expected to be sentenced on at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 8, are: dealing in a narcotic drug, possession of cocaine, criminal gang activity and a habitual offender charge. These charges range from a level 4 felony to a level 6 felony. A plea agreement was entered on Dec. 14, 2015, in which he plead guilty to count II, possession of cocaine a level 5 felony. That plea was withdrawn, and another guilty plea entered on Feb. 22.

This agreement stated he would plead guilty to possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver, a level 5 felony, as a lesser included offense of dealing in cocaine more than one gram, a level 4 felony as charged in the information. No mention of the other three charges were made in the record of guilty plea.

The affidavit of probable cause in that case states police were called to an individual being held against his will. A woman said her husband was forced to drive Bronson to South Bend, under false pretenses when he wanted to purchase illegal drugs. The vehicle was located and the driver was removed from the vehicle. He told police Bronson had him take $240 using his debit card to help Bronson pay off a debt. He drove Bronson to a gas station and was returning home. A search of the vehicle, by the use of a canine officer, found no illegal drugs. A search of Bronson found a green pill container containing plastic bags with a white powdery substance. It field tested positive for cocaine.

While speaking with Bronson, police were told he is in the top seven in control of the Aryan Brotherhood. He said his stepson is in trouble with that group and he was purchasing cocaine to give to his stepson to pay off a debt with the gang. He did admit to purchasing the drug and that it belonged to him and that he was going to deliver the cocaine to his stepson and another individual.

He was also arrested in April 2014, and charged with a class D felony of possession of cocaine. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 22, 2014, and sentenced to one year, suspended subject to the conditions he not violate any state or federal criminal laws during that suspended sentence. Should that be violated imprisonment will take pace at the Kosciusko County Jail.

A search of the public records at the Kosciusko County Courthouse shows that Bronson had a charge of auto theft, a class D felony filed against him in September 2001, however it was dismissed.

It was also found on Oct. 4, 2005, he was sentenced to three years for possession of cocaine or a narcotic drug, on Oct. 21, 2001, sentenced to three years for theft, receiving stolen property and three years for possession of cocaine or a narcotic drug all out of Elkhart County. The Indiana Department of Correction Offender Data shows he was discharged from the DOC on Aug. 25, 2006.

Kosciusko County Superior Court 3 also found Bronson guilty of a class D felony, operating a vehicle as a habitual traffic violator in August 2008. He was given a one-year suspended sentence to run consecutive with two other class D felony cases, and had his driver’s license suspended for 90 days.

No Information

The recent indictments against Bronson for corrupt business influence, mentions the business of The Young Dragon LLC, in which he allegedly invested or used funds to operate the business. A web search for the company only turned up a listing of the business with the Ohio Secretary of State. The information was last updated on Oct. 19, 2013, and the agent was listed as David S. Baker.

In numerous interviews in early 2013 including one with Dr. Walls, which was posted on YouTube, Bronson talks about his life, his martial arts career and how his story caught the eye of Hollywood. He noted working with Baker, his entertainment lawyer and co-manager. Photographs were published of him with Dr. Mark Soto, noted as his friend and business partner, and Baker, along with agent and co-manager Nelson Diaz.

Even the website he refers individuals to: Welcome to wakai-ryu.com is either no longer in existence and its domain name is unavailable or does not relate to Bronson. Several Facebook posts were also found for Bronson, including one under the name of Kevin Bronson-Bailin.

Bronson also noted his association with Relentless Martial Arts Academy on East Market Street, Warsaw, as nutritional counselor, martial arts instructor, and personal fitness training with partner and co-owner David Sumpter. He is no longer listed as being associated with the academy.