WARSAW — A Warsaw man was sentenced to jail time with both the Indiana Department of Corrections as well as the Kosciusko County Jail after he was found guilty of drug offenses while out of jail on work release.
Shane D. Cox
Shane Dale Cox, 40, 321 S. High St., Warsaw, was charged with two counts of possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, two counts of unlawful possession of a syringe, a level 6 felony, dealing methamphetamine, a level 4 felony and resisting law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor. He was also accused of violating his terms of probation for similar charges stemming from incidents in 2016 for which he had been sentenced and freed on work release.
According to affidavits of probable cause, Cox was arrested twice on active warrants — once on Jan. 6 and once on May 19. In both instances, police reported finding drugs and paraphernalia on Cox’s person.
Cox pleaded guilty earlier this year to dealing methamphetamine, resisting law enforcement and one of the possession charges. At his sentencing hearing Monday, Aug. 6, in Kosciusko Circuit Court, Cox told Judge Michael Reed he was thankful of the multiple chances he’d been given after his earlier arrests and that he alone was responsible for his current situation.
“I appreciate all the opportunities you guys gave me,” Cox said. “When paranoia kicked in, I did something I shouldn’t have done, which is leave Serenity House.”
Reed told Cox that as an addict, he’s going to have to find ways to cope with the disease. “You’re always going to face this,” Reed said. “You’re going to have to figure out different ways to do it.”
Reed ordered Cox to serve the remainder of his previous sentence that had been converted to probation time and ordered him to spend a total of five years with the Indiana Department of Corrections as well one year in the Kosciusko County Jail. The county jail time was to be served concurrently with three years in the IDOC that he received for dealing methamphetamine.
Reed also told the representatives of the probation department that Cox’s jail time credit would have to be calculated at a later time.