Buchanan man gets prison time on multiple charges

Published 2:01 pm Tuesday, December 31, 2024

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NILES — A Buchanan man was sentenced to prison Monday in Berrien County Trial Court on multiple charges.

Timothy Patrick James, 37, of Buchanan, pleaded guilty to fleeing and eluding police, unlawful driving away of an automobile and second offense domestic violence and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 24 months to 60 months and 18 months to 60 months in prison on the first two charges and credit for 298 days in jail for the domestic violence charge.

He must pay a total of $23,773.27 in fines, costs and restitution. The incident occurred May 3 in Buchanan.

Berrien County Trial Court Judge Jennifer Smith noted that James was on parole out of Indiana at the time of the incident and his record includes a number of crimes against police such as fleeing and eluding and assaultive behavior.

“I don’t think you’re a good candidate for probation,” she said. “I hope your mindset has changed, that would be great but I can’t ignore your record of crime.”