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CASSOPOLIS — An Elkhart man is going to prison for the next eight years after he drove while under the influence of controlled substances and crashed a stolen car in Edwardsburg last October, killing a friend who was in the passenger seat.

     Cody Kleitz, 29, of Elkhart, pleaded guilty to operating while under the influence of controlled substances causing death and first-degree fleeing police and was sentenced to six to 15 years in prison on the causing death count and eight to 15 years in prison on the fleeing count Friday in Cass County Circuit Court

     He has credit for 292 days already served and must pay a total of $2,616 in fines and costs. The two prison terms will run concurrently.

     Other charges including open murder, receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle and fourth-degree fleeing police were dismissed.

     The incident occurred Oct. 22, 2023. Kleitz fled from police in Nappanee, Indiana, reaching speeds of up to 100 miles per hour in what turned out to be a stolen vehicle. He ended up crashing into a tree off Old 205 near Edwardsburg and took off on foot. His passenger, Adrian Smith, was pronounced dead at the scene. Both had been using meth.

     Smith’s daughter spoke before sentencing. She noted that she is a licensed social worker and had spent many hours trying to figure out how to reach her dad about his substance abuse. “46.8 million people battle substance abuse disorder and unfortunately we are here in this courtroom because you are part of that statistic,” she told Kleitz.

     “The last time I talked to him on Oct. 20, I never knew that the following evening you would make the choice not to stop and made the choice to flee which ultimately killed my father,” she added. “I hope that you love yourself more than you love getting high so your family doesn’t have to go through this in the future.”

     Defense attorney Greg Feldman said his client suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from an incident from his childhood where his grandmother died in a fire. “He’s going to have his get his head around the fact he walked away and his friend died,” he said. “He needs to do the work on himself, to make himself healthy.”

Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman told Kleitz that this was a prime example of what he always tells people to not flee or resist and to cooperate with police. “When you flee or resist, it only makes things worse,” he said.

Judge Herman said Kleitz could have faced more minor charges and be sentenced to probation and a small amount of jail if he had just stopped and not fled. “Here you ended up killing your best friend, I’m sure you relived it many times,” he said. “You said this was the worst day of life, but realize it was still way better than Mr. Smith’s day.”