Defendants appear in local court

VW independent staff

Four criminal defendents appeared before Van Wert County Common Pleas Court Judge Martin D. Burchfield on Wednesday.

Jesse Stemen, 35, Van Wert, admitted to violating his probation by failing to report to the probation department. New bond was set at $50,000 cash or surety and sentencing was scheduled for 9 a.m. February 5.

Stemen was a passenger in a car that was involved in a police chase in Van Wert on December 19. After crashing into another car on Fox Rd., Stemen and the driver, Alicia Funkhouser, fled on foot and tried to hide in a neary building. While the two were hiding, the Van Wert Special Response Team deployed a drone to locate them. They refused to surrender, so the Van Wert County Sheriff’s deputy gave commands and then released the the department’s K-9. Funkhouser sustained bite marks and both she and Stemen were taken into custody. Funkhouser has since been charged with failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third degree felony.

In separate cases, Nathan Stephens, 20, of Lima, was sentenced to 36 months in prison with credit for 28 days already served for gross sexual imposition, a third degree felony. He was also sentenced to five years of post release control and was ordered to pay court costs.

Joshua McGinnis, 43, of Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty to vandalism, a fifth degree felony, and to a prosecutor’s bill of information for escape, a fifth degree felony.. He was then sentenced to 12 months in prison on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently, but consecutively to his current prison term, which is expected to end in November, 2026.

Daniel Lehmkuhle, III, 26, of Delphos, signed a time waiver in open court and requested additional time to prepare his case. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for 9 a.m. February 19. He also appeared in court on Friday, January 3, and admitted to violating his bond by failing to report to probation. New bond was set at $5,000 cash. He’s charged with aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth degree felony.