SOUTH BEND - Alan E. Zakel, 28, of South Bend was sentenced to 1 year and 10 months in prison for taking a motor vehicle without permission. The action took place in Pacific County Superior Court Friday afternoon.
South Bend Police Officers were called by Zakel's distraught girlfriend, who called them when she learned her vehicle was being impounded by the Raymond Police Department. Zakle had been arrested for DUI and driving while his license was suspended in the vehicle and Zakel's girlfriend informed police that he never had permission to take her vehicle.
"I could have charged Zakel with theft of a motor vehicle and sent him to prison for 43 months, but under the circumstances I felt the public was best served with making Mr. Zakel plead to the DUI, license offense, and the lesser offense of taking a motor vehicle and completing treatment in prison for his obvious alcohol issue," Pacific County Prosecutor Mark McClain told the the Herald. "I also am required to take the victim's wishes into account, and she wanted a lesser sentence as they have a child in common."
Bender Guilty
of Stealing Mail
Wesley A. Bender, 45, of Ocean Park entered a guilty plea to mail theft. Sentencing has been set to January 27, where he is expected to receive a month in jail. The Postal Service received a complaint from Netflix that a large number of DVDs had not been delivered. Following an investigation the postal service discovered that while he was helping his father deliver the mail, he had taken 61 DVD's and Blu-ray discs from 37 people.
"While other prosecutor's in this state would not have required Mr. Bender to plead to a felony, I believed doing otherwise did not protect the public trust that we have in our postal delivery," McClain said, adding, "and the month in jail, especially for someone who hasn't had a brush with the law in over 15 years made sense."
Bender could be sentenced to as much as a year in jail and a $10,000 fine when he next faces the judge, but he is not eligible for probation.
Evans Guilty
as Sex Offender
Janson L. Evans, 44, of Grayland entered a guilty plea to failure to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to one year in prison.
"This was an unusual case because Mr. Evans was registered as a sex offender on Maple Street in a travel trailer," McClain said. "The trailer was moved to Warrenton Cannery Road without Mr. Evan's permission by, I suspect, disgruntled neighbors angry about Evan's dogs, which were later seized by the sheriff's office and destroyed as dangerous animals. About this time, Mr. Evans was then formally evicted from the Maple Street address. Mr. Evans never registered either as homeless or at a new address," said Pacific County Prosecutor Mark McClain.
"Despite Mr. Evans' misfortune, I believed because he had a prior sex offense and had a prior failure to register as a sex offender conviction, I was unwilling to overlook the circumstances, especially since Mr. Evans knew he had to register and was told both by the deputy responding to the dog matter, but also by the deputy who responded to the trailer, and said as much to his mother on a jail call while in jail," McClain added.
"I believe holding sex offenders accountable is important for protect our community," McClain said.
Evans will serve a year for the second conviction for failure to register as a sex offender and will serve another 3 years on community custody once released.
Middleton Guilty in Meth Case
Travis W. Middleton, 54, of Ilwaco entered guilty pleas to three counts of delivery of methamphetamine and one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Middleton was arrested following an undercover narcotics operation, which was conducted between the Pacific County Sheriff's Office and the Long Beach Police Department between last October and November.
Officers, utilizing a confidential informant, were able to buy methamphetamine from Middleton three different times and then executed a warrant on Middleton's residence on Ortelius Drive and discovered additional methamphetamine, scales, and baggies similar to those used in previous buys.
"These two departments put together an excellent operational plan and it was from their efforts that we are able to remove another drug dealer from our community," Mark McClain said.
"Middleton requested and was granted by our newly minted Superior Court Judge, Douglas Goelz, a prison-based drug offender sentencing alternative and as a result he will serve 20 months in prison followed by 20 months on probation," McClain noted.