Daniel Emerson

WARSAW — A man with addresses listed as both Noblesville and Warsaw was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court 1 Thursday, March 7.

Daniel Emerson, 61, with addresses on file of 5640 Flinchum Way, Noblesville, and 214 N. McKinley St., Warsaw, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft, one a level 6 felony and the other a level 2 felony. 

According to court documents, on July 30, 2015, Warsaw police investigated a report of theft of money from Eurest Dining Center.

Police were informed that Emerson was terminated by Eurest on July 9, 2015, due to poor job performance.

One of Emerson’s job duties as manager was to deposit cash at PNC Bank at the end of each day. Shortly after Emerson’s termination, the accounting department discovered five missing deposits: $1,446.30 on June 30, 2015; $1,314.40 on July 1, 2015; $1,201.53 on July 2, 2015; $1,147.06 on July 6, 2015; and $1,290 on July 7, 2015. It was later discovered that $374.47 in cash was also missing from the manager’s safe.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz told Judge David Cates that Emerson has paid approximately half of the amount of restitution he owes. 

Emerson’s lawyer, Juan Pablo Roman-Langunas explained that Emerson takes care of his mother, who accompanied him to court today.

“The reason this crime took place was having overwhelming debt due to his mother’s illness,” said Roman-Langunas. “He has fully intended to and wanted to pay that back.” 

“He’s somewhat of a rock star in the food industry,” Roman-Langunas added. “He does very well at his work and he works very hard.”

When asked if he would like to speak, Emerson simply stated he wanted to “get this over with.”

Cates sentenced Emerson to one and a half years at the Kosciusko County Jail for each charge, for a total of three years. The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively. Cates then ordered the sentences be suspended in full and served on probation. 

“You want to get this over with and not be back in front of a judge,” said Cates. “Don’t commit any more crimes.” 

Emerson was given two days of jail time credit and ordered to continue paying restitution until the time it has been paid in full. Cates stated he had no objection to the transfer of probation to Hamilton County.