By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
NILES – Recent court action in Berrien County Trial Court and Cass County Circuit Court includes sentencings and upcoming court dates in some high profile cases.
Two area residents were sentenced to prison Monday in Berrien County Trial Court at the Niles courthouse.
Benjamin Lee Freeman, 48, of Berrien Springs, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct-assault with intent to commit penetration and attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 76 months to 120 months and 38 months to 60 months in prison.
He has credit for 59 days served and must pay $326 in fines and costs. He must register as a sex offender. The incident occurred in April, 2013 in the Berrien Springs area against a minor child but was not reported to police until July, 2024.
Rodney Allen Stuart, 48, of Buchanan, pleaded guilty to third offense drunk driving and was sentenced to 18 months to five years in prison with credit for 60 days already served. His license was revoked and he must pay $1,558 in fines and costs. His blood alcohol level was found to be .157. This was Stuart’s 6th drunk driving conviction; he has a total of 8 felony and 14 misdemeanor convictions with at least 12 probation sentences.
A Marcellus man who stole a walnut tree earlier this year in Pokagon Township was sentenced to prison last week in Cass County Circuit Court. Trevor Michael Wallace, 36, pleaded guilty to concealing stolen property over $1,000 but less than $20,000 as a habitual offender in August and was sentenced Friday to 38 months to five years in prison. He has no credit for time served as he is on parole. He must pay $3,548 in fines, costs and restitution.
The incident occurred Dec. 21, 2024 at a property on Old Mill Road in Pokagon Township. Wallace and others cut down a fully mature hardwood walnut tree and Wallace later tried to sell the lumber to an area mill. 
The property owner, Jesse Bement, spoke before the sentencing about the legacy left by his grandfather who established the farm after he came back from World War II. Bement said his grandfather planted trees to promote soil conservation, to provide shade for the animals on the farm and to also be a future source of income if they were ever cut.
“When the case was initially brought, people thought it was just a tree but it’s obviously more to it than that,” Assistant Prosecutor Jason Ronning said. “It’s becoming a new way for people to make money as they cut down trees and sell them at lumber mills. There’s no licensing or registration for trees.”
Ronning noted that Wallace has 8 previous felony convictions and 14 misdemeanor convictions. He said Wallace was arrested Thursday for meth possession and for turning in a lawnmower that didn’t belong to him at a recycling center.