BERRIEN COUNTY COURTHOUSE SENTENCES DOMESTIC ABUSERS AND THIEVES

NILES – Two area residents are headed to prison on weapon and assault charges after being sentenced this week in Berrien County Trial Court
         Matthew Carlton Harvey, 27, of Mishawaka, pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to 18 months to four years in prison. He has credit for 56 days already served and must pay $1,158 in fines and costs.
He was given three concurrent 30 day jail terms for two contempt of court convictions for contacting his victim after being ordered not to and for a domestic violence conviction from an Aug. 10 incident in Niles Township.
The assault with a dangerous weapon incident occurred Oct. 2 at a home in the 1700 block of Bond Street in Niles Township. Harvey hit his wife with a board in addition to hitting, punching and body slamming her.
Harvey apologized for his actions. “I’d like to say I’m sorry to all parties,” he said. “I’ve made a bunch of mistakes. Being stuck in jail and losing my dad has opened my eyes.”
His past record includes a probation sentence for arson. In that instance, he set his house on fire and then rescued his wife from the fire.
“You don’t get a lot of extra kudos for rescuing a person out of the house you set on fire,” Berrien County Trial Judge Angela Pasula said. “You seem to minimalize what you’ve done wrong. You hit, punched and pulled your wife’s hair. You hit her with a board and the board broke. She was visibly injured and in pain.”
“It seems to me you’re used to being manipulative,” the judge added. “This is not the first time you’ve beat up the victim. You say you love your wife but this is not love when you hit or beat someone. That’s not love, it’s inexcusable, brutal and violent and it’s a choice.”
In the other prison sentence, a Niles man was sentenced for third offense domestic violence.
James Earl Kelly, 47, of Pine Lake Road in Niles, pleaded guilty to third offense domestic violence and was sentenced to 14 months to five years in prison. He has credit for 65 days already served and must pay $1,438 in fines, costs and restitution.
The incident occurred Sept. 23 at an apartment in Niles and involved punching her and threatening his girlfriend with a knife. He had to be subdued with a taser when police arrived on the scene. Other charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and resisting and obstructing police were dismissed.
“You have three prior domestic violence convictions,” Pasula said. “The victim here was very frightened and told you to leave the apartment. You held a knife to her throat and cut her, you straddled her and punched her in the face nine times. She was terrified and felt like a prisoner in her own home. You didn’t drop the knife when police and had to be tased.”
Kelly apologized and said he would try to do better.
In other sentences, a Niles man was sentenced for breaking into his parents’ Niles home while an Elkhart man was sentenced for breaking into a hunting cabin near Buchanan.
       Ryan Joseph Hopper, 26, of Oakdale in Niles, pleaded guilty to larceny in a building and was sentenced to 150 days in jail and $1,098 in fines and costs. He has credit for 48 days already served.
The incident occurred Sept. 2 at his parents’ home in Niles Township when he stole a number of electronics. Hopper claimed that he broke in to retrieve the items after his parents kicked him out of the house.
Defense attorney Scott Sanford noted that Hopper was sentenced in October to a 16 month prison sentence on drug related charges.
       Zachary Michael Smith, 22, of Elkhart, pleaded guilty to larceny of a weapon and was sentenced to two years probation, 50 hours of community service and $918 in fines and costs. He was given credit for 16 days already served.
The incident occurred June 24 in Buchanan Township when he broke into a hunting cabin on Bachelor Island in the St. Joseph River and stole a firearm.
“There’s no way you can break into a house without thinking,” Pasula told Smith after he said he hadn’t been thinking. “You can’t do it without a thought process … You don’t respect other people’s rights and property.”