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A 33-year-old Fort Wayne man was sentenced Monday to a year in prison and six months of probation for clubbing a dachshund with a battle-ax earlier this year.
Billy Jack Dennis, of the 700 block of Third Street, pleaded guilty to a single charge of felony animal cruelty.
In October, Dennis pleaded guilty to a single Class D felony count of cruelty to an animal, admitting to beating the dog to death with the weapon after it inflicted a minor bite to his young daughter’s lip.
The dog was tied to a tree in a neighbor’s yard where children were playing. When Dennis found out about the dog bite, he grabbed the weapon, jumped the fence and beat the dog, which had to be euthanized because of the severity of its injuries.
As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, an additional misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty was dismissed.
Allen Superior Judge John Surbeck ordered Dennis to submit to non-violence counseling and forbade him from owning any vertebrate animals while on probation.
A Kendallville woman who stole more than $200,000 from elderly and infirm residents at a local nursing home was sentenced to two years in prison and two years on probation Monday in Allen Superior Court.
Michelle M. Wagoner, 38, apologized for her actions, thanking her co-workers for discovering her theft and reporting it. She pleaded guilty in October to a single Class C felony count of theft.
But her former employer asked Allen Superior Judge Fran Gull to send Wagoner to prison, citing the damage the thefts caused the residents, even causing temporary suspensions of Medicaid payments.
According to court documents, Wagoner would double-bill Medicaid and the residents at Canterbury Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Allen County, writing checks to herself or her husband and then depositing them in a night-deposit box at a local credit union. If more than one signature was required, Wagoner would forge the necessary signatures before depositing the checks.
Nursing home officials pored over the financial records for the agency, finding more than $200,000 in checks missing from January 2006 to March 2009, according to court documents.
When confronted, Wagoner admitted the money came from the residents’ trust fund accounts and said she was sorry, according to court documents.
As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, four additional charges of forgery were suspended.
Gull ordered Wagoner to pay $209,892 in restitution to the nursing home, as well as complete 80 hours of community service and undergo a psychological evaluation.
