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Friday in Cass County Court, several area residents were sentenced on drug charges.

Dannielle Marie Adams, 31, of Edwards Street in Dowagiac, pleaded guilty to delivery/manufacture of methamphetamines and was sentenced to two years’ probation, credit for 126 days served and pay $1,608 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred Dec. 6, 2019, in the 100 block of Michigan Avenue in Dowagiac. Meth, scales, a meth pipe and a ledger of transactions were found by police during a traffic stop for improper plates. She also has pending charges in LaPorte County.

“I hope you appreciate the opportunity you have here,” Judge Herman said. “If you don’t take it seriously, you’re going to end up behind bars for at least a year. The agreement here is for you only serve probation, I’m concerned whether you’re ready to perform on probation given your drug use.”

“Another conviction means prison,” he added. “You need to take this very seriously. Your next arrest will mean prison and that will be a lot worse than being in jail. You’re 31 years old, and this is your first felony conviction here. You’re really headed in a bad direction real fast. I’ve never seen anyone’s life get better with drugs.”

Larry Joseph Kirk, 37, formerly of Niles, pleaded guilty to delivery of meth and attempted possession of a taser and was sentenced to fines and costs of $1,616 and one-year license suspension. 

He was not given any jail or prison term as he’s already in prison for a parole violation from an earlier Berrien County meth lab conviction. He has spent 372 days in custody without receiving any credit since being arrested on the current charge and the parole violation.

The current incident occurred Nov. 9, 2018, when police searched the Howard Township home he was staying at. They found meth, scales, pipes and a taser and he admitted that he was trading meth for rent in the home.

Kirk said he was not ready for life on the outside when he first got out of prison.

“Since this incident, I have turned my life around and have been drug free,” he said.

Shannon L. Beckwith, 50, of South Bend, pleaded guilty to delivery/manufacture of meth and maintaining a lab involving hazardous waste and was sentenced to two days already served and $1,826 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred March 6, 2014, in Edwardsburg. He was arrested a short time later in Elkhart on similar charges and served over seven years in prison there. He was given no additional jail time here since he would have gotten credit anyway for that time served in Indiana.

“I hope you realize with your history that you can’t afford to go back to meth,” the judge said. “If you do, you will end up back here and you may die in prison. Reality is that another conviction it could be a 20-year sentence with your expected habitual offender status.”

Jose Arnold Montiel, 42, of Third Street in Dowagiac, pleaded guilty to two counts of resisting and obstructing police as a habitual offender and was sentenced to credit for 148 days already served and $1,616 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred Nov. 20, 2020, in Dowagiac. Montiel faces charges in Van Buren County that carry more serious penalties.