Ex-cop's sentence shortened in plea deal
NWI Times
Sep 24, 2008
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/ex-cop-s-sentence-shortened-in-plea-deal/article_57c86935-a3f9-5f1c-b778-e9e65f5bcebc.html
VALPARAISO | A day after approving a deal that allowed a former county police officer to escape both jail time and a felony conviction for a domestic dispute involving a gun, Porter Superior Judge Roger Bradford reduced the sentence so as not interfere with plans by John "Mike" Jenkins to move away Saturday.
Bradford reduced the one-year suspended sentence by five days so Jenkins would no longer fall under federal rules requiring him to wait about 45 days to transfer his probation to another state.
The glitch in the plea agreement was discovered Tuesday afternoon by the county probation department just a short time after 49-year-old Jenkins appeared in court to plead guilty to reduced charges stemming from the May 22 incident.
Jenkins' defense attorney, Ken Elwood, returned near the end of the work day Tuesday to discuss the unforeseen development with Bradford.
Deputy Prosecutor Trista Hudson said Wednesday morning she did not believe the federal requirements applied to Jenkins because he pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and was placed on unsupervised probation.
There was some urgency to the development because Jenkins reportedly has plans to move Saturday to Minnesota to start a new job. He had left the county sheriff's department in 2004 to work as director of security for Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.
Officials involved in the case deny any special treatment of Jenkins because of his service as a police officer. They referred to weakening evidence in the case and said this is typically how cases are handled for first time offenders, even when a gun is involved.
Jenkins' wife told police on the night in question he had consumed alcohol and then bit her, struck her in the stomach and tried to choke her. She also reported Jenkins fired his gun.
Jenkins was never arrested, but he was later charged with felony counts of strangulation and intimidation, and misdemeanor domestic battery.
In the deal struck with prosecutors and approved by Bradford, the strangulation charge was dropped and the two remaining counts were reduced to misdemeanor intimidation and battery. Had Jenkins been convicted of either a felony or the original domestic battery charge, he would no longer be allowed to legally possess guns.
Jenkins also avoided jail time.
He was initially sentenced to one year in jail, but the deal suspended all but time served and 30 days. The 30 days are to be spent doing community service work and Jenkins will spend the balance of the suspended term on informal probation that does not require office visits.
He was ordered to continue with counseling, with an emphasis on domestic violence.
Jenkins had supervised both patrol officers and detectives and also served as an undercover narcotics officer and an accident reconstructionist during his 25 years with the sheriff's department.
