By Madison Hart
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — A Fort Wayne man was sentenced on two charges connected to an incident in April of 2023 when Warsaw police discovered methamphetamine during a traffic stop.

Kevin M. Hall

Kevin Michael Hall, 48, of 10214 Chestnut Plaza Drive, Apt. 182, Fort Wayne, was found guilty on Monday, Oct. 14, in Kosciusko Circuit Court of possession of methamphetamine, a level 4 felony, and operating a vehicle as a habitual traffic violator, a level 6 felony.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on April 24, 2023, a Warsaw Police officer was patrolling on US 30 when he conducted an inquiry on a pickup truck and learned Hall, the vehicle’s registered owner, was a habitual traffic violator. Hall provided the officer with a false name and said the vehicle belonged to his brother.

Upon searching the vehicle, officers found drug paraphernalia, a plastic bag containing 34.5 grams of meth, and counterfeit dollar bills. They also found $3,606 in the vehicle’s center console. Hall claimed the money belonged to someone else and refused to speak with law enforcement.

Hall’s driving privileges in Indiana were suspended as a habitual traffic violator, with the expiration date in November 2029. Hall had prior convictions for possession of a controlled substance, theft and violation of driving privileges. At the time of this incident, Hall was on pretrial release in two criminal cases for theft and operating as a habitual traffic violator. He also had active warrants from Michigan and Florida, and was subject to extradition.

For this case, Hall was charged with dealing methamphetamine, a level 2 felony; possession of methamphetamine, a level 3 felony; operating a vehicle as a habitual traffic violator, a level 6 felony; false informing, a class B misdemeanor; and possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor. He was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on April 24, 2023 with a $26,000 surety and cash bond.

On April 4, 2024, Hall plead guilty to possession of methamphetamine, a level 4 felony, and operating a vehicle as a habitual traffic violator, a level 6 felony. The other charges were to be dropped as part of the plea agreement.

A pretrial sentencing investigation report found that the quantities of methamphetamine found were not enough to be considered to have intention to distribute, nor was it enough to qualify as a level 3 felony.

During the sentencing hearing on Oct. 14, Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz stated, “This is not a negotiated agreement. It’s based on the facts and evidence of the case,” and noted that Hall’s attorney, Jack Charles Birch, asked for further investigation which determined the quantity of methamphetamine to be below limits to consider “dealing.”

Birch affirmed this statement saying, “This is a straight up plea to what he did, nothing less.”

Birch also discussed a new Marshall County charge for operating as a habitual traffic violator and false informing. He stated that after Hall’s release, he had worked with an attorney to get special driving privileges in order to make money to resolve his outstanding cases, particularly a case in Florida. However, when an officer pulled Hall over in Marshall County, Hall realized that the special privileges had not processed yet at the BMV. Birch said Hall made a bad decision in that moment.

“When I got released, my focus was to stay sober and resolve matters and just spending time with family,” said Hall. “I’ve done so up until this day.”

Hall explained that when he got pulled over in Marshall County he panicked and said he was his brother.

“I own up to it, and I’m trying to get it behind me,” said Hall.

Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed commented that this was the same mistake he did in this case.

“I’ve bent over backwards to let you clean this up, and you’ve only made more of a mess,” said Reed.

He expressed uncertainty over whether Hall’s plea should be accepted, but decided to accept it.

Reed sentenced Hall to to six years in the Kosciusko County Jail for the charge of possession of methamphetamine. Hall was sentenced to three years in the Kosciusko County Jail for the charge of operating as a habitual traffic violator to be served at the same time.

Four of the years will be served in county jail, with the opportunity to serve through work release if he is admitted and his outstanding cases are resolved. Two of the years will be suspended on probation. Hall had jail time credit from April 23-27, 2023, and May 25, 2023 to April 23, 2024.

Hall was remanded to the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office to begin his sentence.