BERRIEN COUNTY TRIAL COURT NEWS

By DEBRA HAIGHT

 NILES – A former Niles resident is going back to prison after being convicted of criminal sexual conduct.
Anthony Berwyn Holmes, 37, now of Evansville, Ind., pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court to eight to 15 years in prison. He has credit for 53 days already served and must pay $1,448 in fines and costs.
The incident Sept. 20, 2012 with Holmes not being arraigned on the charge until early October of this year. The victim was 14 years old at the time of the offense which occurred in Niles.
Berrien County Trial Judge Angela Pasula noted that Holmes has been sentenced to jail nine times previously and been to prison twice before.
Although defense attorney Albert Mais said his client thought the girl was of age and maintains that the sexual relationship was consensual, Pasula said the victim reported that she did tell Holmes her age and that she was forced to have a relationship with him.
“This was a deplorable crime,” Pasula said. “You robbed her of her childhood. She was the innocent, the prey. She indicated in her statement that she feels as if a piece of her is missing, that she has a black hole inside her and she feels like life is not worth living.”
A South Bend man was sentenced this week for his role in a criminal conspiracy involving the theft of money from a vulnerable elderly woman in the Niles area.
Thomas Edward Lewallen, 32, of South Bend, pleaded guilty to two counts of uttering and publishing and was sentenced to four years probation in the Swift & Sure program, 270 days in jail, $2,558.75 restitution and $1,806 in fines and costs. He has credit for 88 days already served.
 Lewallen cannot work in any position where he has access to other people’s money and must testify truthfully against his co-defendants as part of the plea agreement which kept him out of prison. He can spend the last part of his jail term in the Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program.
The incident occurred Sept. 18, 2015 when he cashed checks written on the account of an elderly Niles area woman. His sister and two other women provided home health care for the woman and took advantage of her by writing checks for themselves on her account.
Defense attorney Shannon Sible said his client knows “he screwed up” and noted that Lewallen was high on heroin at the time. “I did make a mistake, I take full responsibility for my actions,” Lewallen said.
Pasula noted that Lewallen has six prior felony convictions and she would seriously have considered sending him to prison without the plea agreement. His previous record included two probation sentences, six sentences to jail and five sentences to prison.
“You and your sister took advantage of an elderly woman,” she said. “She stole the woman’s checks and you cashed them.”