Steven Paul Gasaway

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was sentenced in Superior Court I today on four separate cases and a probation violation.

Steven P. Gasaway, 26, 5774 N. Second St., Warsaw, was sentenced on charges of dealing a narcotic, a level 5 felony, failure to appear, a level 6 felony, corrupt business influence, a level 5 felony, theft, level 6 felony, theft, class A misdemeanor, driving while suspended, class A misdemeanor, and a probation violation on a previous possession of a narcotic sentence.

Gasaway was arrested on a warrant April 8, 2016 in the Oswego area, near Tippecanoe Lake, following a foot pursuit with police.

Gasaway and Hannah Brown, Warsaw, were wanted on warrants for corrupt business influence, level 5 felonies, theft, level six felonies, attempted theft, class A misdemeanors; and three counts of theft, class A misdemeanors. Gasaway’s charges of attempted theft and three charges of theft, were enhanced to level 6 felonies due to a conviction in March 2012 of an offense of conversion. The charges stem from seven different occasions of working as a team to steal $3,749.35 of merchandise from Wal-Mart and Radio Shack.

Gasaway was also wanted on a probation violation on a sentencing for a charge of possession of a controlled substance, class D felony, in Kosciusko Circuit Court. This charge originated in June 2012.

Gasaway’s attorney David Kolbe told the court that Gasaway is a “textbook example” of how someone can fall into trouble with the law when they have an addiction. Kolbe said that Gasaway’s addiction started after he was no longer being prescribed pain medication for his Crohn’s Disease. He says this is when Gasaway turned to heroin.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Katy Hampton stated that the pre sentence investigation reveals numerous rehabilitation attempts. Hampton also called that court’s attention to the fact that between April 2015 and April 2016, Gasaway had accrued eight cases in six different courts within four different counties.

Gasaway read the courts a letter he had written, claiming responsibility for his actions. He stated, “[Heroin] took away my ambition to be successful…heroin took away the real Steven Gasaway.”

After reading the letter, Gasaway spoke to the court unscripted. “I will never stop fighting for my sobriety….I’ve been suffering for 11 years.”

On all the listed charges, Judge David Cates sentenced Gasaway to 14 years in the Indiana Department of corrections with a total of eight years of the sentence suspended and to be served on probation. Judge Cates gave a Purposeful Incarceration recommendation and granted Gasaway a total of 413 days jail time credit.

Gasaway was also ordered to pay restitution in the total of $4,096.07 to victim’s of his crimes.