Mishawaka woman sentenced for unarmed robbery, lying to police officer

Published 11:08 am Monday, May 23, 2022

CASSOPOLIS — A Mishawaka woman who took her daughters to a drug deal that went bad in Howard Township will spend the next 10 months in prison.

Jennifer Brown, 44, of Mishawaka, pleaded guilty to unarmed robbery and lying to a police officer and was sentenced to 10 months in jail with credit for 71 days served and $1,826 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred Dec. 19, 2020 in Howard Township. Brown drove her daughter to a residence there to buy marijuana. When her daughter grabbed the marijuana without paying, Brown sped off with the people selling the drugs in pursuit. People in the two vehicles engaged shots on Barron Lake Road and one of Brown’s daughters was hit.

Brown apologized to the court and to the police for lying to them when she claimed that she was a Door Dash driver. She said she would go back and do things differently if she could.

“It would be a lot easier for the court to believe you knew nothing about the drug deal if you hadn’t lied to police about door dashing,” Cass County Circuit Judge Mark Herman said.

“You are 43 years old and you have two daughters on probation in Indiana,” he added. “One could have been dead in this incident. Maybe they wouldn’t be on probation if you stayed home instead of arranging drug deals. It’s hard to believe that you knew nothing. Next time, she could get killed. You need to impress on your daughters that this is the wrong way to live life.”

The judge noted that Brown could have been going to prison Friday given her sentencing guidelines despite her lack of a record except for a plea agreement between her attorney and the prosecutor’s office. “You need to seriously think about how you’re living life,” he said.

Judge Herman did not order restitution for a phone damaged that belonged to one of the people involved in the drug deal. “She is the one who started the whole action where someone almost got killed with people shooting at each other and she’s worried about her phone,” he said. “When you come into court to seek restitution, you need to come with clean hands. I don’t see clean hands.”

The driver of the other vehicle involved in the incident was sentenced last September. John Davis of Edwardsburg was sentenced to one year in jail for carrying a concealed weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.