COURT NEWS

By DEBRA HAIGHT

BCR Correspondent

Recent court action in Berrien County Trial Court and Cass County Circuit Court includes a prison sentence for a Niles man who violated his probation within weeks of being sentenced in Berrien County Trial Court for domestic violence.

Everett James Greer, 47, of Oak Street in Niles, was sentenced in late July for third

offense domestic violence to three years probation, 270 days in jail. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim or any woman in a romantic relationship.

Judge Charles LaSata noted at the time that he doubted that Greer would be successful on probation and he proved to be right. Last week, Judge LaSata revoked Greer’s probation and sentenced him to a prison term of 38 months to five years. He has credit for 190 days already served.

Greer did not receive a prison sentence initially due to a plea agreement between the prosecutor and his attorney after the victim did not cooperate with the prosecution.

Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky said Greer violated his probation by having contact with the victim as he called her from jail.

In sentencings this week, two area men were sentenced to prison.

 

Anthony Lavall Hamilton, Jr., 35, of unknown address, pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct against a girl age 13-15 and was sentenced to seven to 15 years in prison. He has credit for 94 days already served and must pay $198 in fines and costs.

The abuse occurred over a number of years at a residence in Niles.

The victim’s mother said Hamilton’s actions had torn her family apart and caused her daughter nightmares. “We are supposed to protect our children, not harm them,” she said.

Vigansky called Hamilton’s actions “about the lowest form of crime one can commit.” “It’s disgusting, it’s almost worse than killing her as she has to live with this the rest of her life. He’s a predator.”

Dominic Eugene Weldy, 26, of Hills Haven Road in Buchanan, pleaded guilty to

tampering with an electronic monitoring device and was sentenced to 12 to 24 months in prison. He has credit for 47 days served and must pay $198 in fines and costs.

The incident occurred May 10 when he absconded from probation. He was arrested June 20.

“You need to turn your life around, you’re not doing anything productive,” Judge LaSata said. “You have had 10 felony convictions in five years. You’re selfish, you deserve to go to prison. You had 10 times to learn your lesson. You’ve violated our ability to monitor you in the community.”

In Cass Circuit Court, a Benton Harbor man who stole money out of a residence hall at Southwestern Michigan College will have the chance to prove himself on probation and have his felony reduced to a misdemeanor.

 

Bryan Linnell Harris, 21, of McAllister in Benton Harbor, pleaded guilty to larceny in a building was sentenced to two years probation, three days in jail with credit for three days served and $1,788 in fines and costs.

The felony larceny in a building charge will be taken off his record and replaced with a misdemeanor charge of larceny over $200 and under $1,000 if he successfully completes the probation term.

The incident occurred April 23 inside a residence hall on the SMC Dowagiac campus where a surveillance camera in the building showed him stealing money. Harris was out on bond at the time after having pleaded guilty to larceny in a building in Berrien County after he was caught cutting locks at the St. Joseph YMCA.

“Stealing even a few dollars is not a joke,” Cass Circuit Judge Mark Herman said. “We could write this off as a juvenile indiscretion if you hadn’t done something similar in Berrien County. You got a heck of a deal to be able to reduce this charge to a misdemeanor.”