FORMER BERRIEN COUNTY PROBATION COORDINATOR FACES THREE FELONY CHARGES

ST. JOSEPH – A Berrien County employee has been charged with wrongdoing in connection with alleged actions involving a criminal defendant and is expected to be arraigned in Berrien County Trial Court on or before Nov. 4.
Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic reported over the weekend that Jessica Holmes, 35, of Eau Claire, has been charged with delivery of a controlled substance, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of justice.
Sepic noted that it appears that some Berrien County Trial Court judges are disqualifying themselves from involvement with the case.
Holmes is a county employee who had recently been promoted to be the Swift & Sure Program Coordinator. She is a 16 year employee of the court and was managing Swift & Sure probationers. Swift & Sure Probation is a program in which defendants convicted of felonies are placed on probation to give them a second chance to succeed.
In this case, it is alleged that Holmes developed a relationship with a Swift & Sure probationer after the Berrien County courthouse shooting of July 11. Some news reports have identified the probationer as Kristopher Laukus.
Veteran court bailiffs Joseph Zangaro, 61, and Ronald Kienzle, 63, were killed that day killed by Coloma resident Larry Gordon, 45. Gordon, was in custody on several felony charges, also shot and injured Berrien County Sheriff’s Deputy James Atterberry, Jr., 41, an 18 year veteran of the sheriff’s department.
Holmes and the probationer were in the courtroom that day when the shooting incident started. Sepic reported that Swift & Sure hearings were going on there that day with Holmes there as the program coordinator and the probationer as a program participant.
The charges stem from the following allegations: that she delivered a drug, Norco (a schedule II controlled substance), to him to sell on her behalf and that she had a sexual relationship with him prohibited due to her employment with the county while he was a probationer.
The obstruction of justice charge stems from the allegation that she provided him with confidential scheduling information by which he was to be drug and alcohol tested for the Swift & Sure program.
The delivery of a controlled substance charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while the other two charges carry maximum penalties of up to 15 years in prison.