By By NORMA LERNER / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS - Two felons went to prison Friday morning from sentencings in Cass County Circuit Court, a male for assaulting two police officers and a female for first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a 4-year-old boy.
Louis Green, 27, of 26529 Dutch Settlement St., Dowagiac, was convicted on Feb. 22 for two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
According to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jason Ronning, Green was on parole for another offense when he committed the offenses and has no interest in abiding by the law.
He gouged the eyes of two police officers by putting his fingers in both their eyes during a battle while officers were trying to arrest him. Ronning said he should go back to prison.
Judge Michael Dodge recounted that it was Oct. 26 when two Dowagiac police officers were dispatched to Halstead Street in Dowagiac regarding an arrest warrant for a criminal sexual conduct charge against Green. Green caused physical injuries to both officers which did require treatment. Green ran off and was apprehended by use of a tracking dog used by police. He said the criminal sexual conduct charge resulted from a woman who said she had been raped by Green. Dodge noted Green was on parole at the time of the offense for a conviction of armed robbery which put him at the higher end of his guideline range of 34 to 67 months.
Dodge imposed a five-to-10-year prison term consecutive to his armed robbery sentence and ordered restitution for medical treatment of $1,764 plus $980 in court costs.
Also sent to prison for 10 to 20 years was 57-year-old Linda Wines whose address was listed as the Cass County Jail for first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a then four-year-old boy on Nov. 8, 2002. The mother of the boy who addressed the court said she cannot forgive Wines whom she trusted as a friend and that it will take a long time for her son to forget. "I would put her in a single cell with my son's picture on the wall that she can stare at so she knows what she destroyed. This will take a long time for him to recover," she said in asking the judge for the longest possible term.
The offense took place on Main Street in Marcellus, according to court records.
Wines must pay $470 in court costs.
Also sentenced to 270 days jail was Dustin Pressler, 24, of 221 North Fourth Street, Sturgis, for resisting and obstructing police officers on Jan. 11 on Old U.S.-112 in Union when Michigan state police attempted to stop him for speeding. Pressler drove into a driveway and bolted away, leaving his girlfriend in the car. Officers apprehended Pressler and found he has a charge against him for operating/maintaining a methamphetamine lab in St. Joseph County, Mich. He also was imposed 93 concurrent days for driving while his license was suspended and must pay $120 in court costs.
Gregory Davis, 38, 1041 Bailey Avenue, Niles, received 240 days jail and three years of probation for possession of cocaine less than 25 grams on Jan. 19 on Bailey Road. He is to pay a $900 probation supervision fee, $920 in court costs, a $350 fine, and his license was suspended for one year.
Edgar Hernandez, 25, 550 Riverside, Dowagiac, received 18 months of probation for larceny from a motor vehicle where he was caught stealing a stereo from a car on Front Street, Dowagiac, on April 18. He is to pay an $1,800 probation supervision fee, $960 in court costs and restitution of $560.
Gary Leiting, 34, 28155 Dunning Street, Cassopolis, received one year in jail for third-offense fleeing police and being a second-habitual offender on July 14 when he fled from Dowagiac police for a minor traffic violation and drove through a 25-mile-per-hour zone on Depot Drive at 55 miles per hour. He also fled on foot into a field before being apprehended. He must pay $120 in court costs.
A bench warrant was issued for Jose Rodarte, 34, 184 Marion, Hartford, for failing to appear on a conviction of possession of cocaine less than 25 grams on Jan. 25 in Dowagiac.