{"id":206328,"date":"2026-05-27T15:14:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T20:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=206328"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T20:15:31","slug":"sargent-sentenced-other-hearings-held","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/05\/27\/sargent-sentenced-other-hearings-held\/","title":{"rendered":"Sargent sentenced, other hearings held"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Van Wert man accused of supplying drugs that cost another city man his life was in court for sentencing on Wednesdasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Joshua Sargent, 44, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempted corrupting another with drugs, a third degree felony. Judge Martin D. Burchfield ordered the sentence to be served concurrently with current 18-month sentence for domestic violence. Sargent was also ordered to pay court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, a first degree felony, and corrupting another with drugs, a second degree felony, in connection with the early October, 2024 death of KC Kerns, who was 43. His body was found in the wooded lot of the old reservoir at the corner of Blaine St. and Anderson Ave. Sargent was originally charged in May of last year, but the case was later dismissed due to the availability of a witness. Once the witness became available, the charges were refiled.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Joshua Sargent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

During a hearing held last month, Sargent changed his plea from not guilty to guilty to the amended count of attempted corrupting another with drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three other people were sentenced on Wednesday on various unrelated charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Stripe, 49, of Van Wert, was sentenced to three years of community control, 100 hours of community service and 30 days in jail at a later date for theft from a person in a protected class, a fourth degree felony. He was ordered to seek and maintain employment, undergo a mental health and substance abuse assessment and any treatment and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,800, plus court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zachariah Germann, 38, of Van Wert, was sentenced to three years of community control and 30 days in jail at a later date for possession of a fentanyl related compound, a fifth degree felony. He must undergo a mental health and substance abuse assessment and any treatment, perform 52 hours of community service, have no illegal drugs or consume alcohol, undergo random screens, and he was ordered to pay monthly probation fees, restitution in the amount of $800, and court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 other hearings were held between May 21 and Wednesday, including one additional sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Whisman, 35, of Van Wert, was sentenced to three years of community control, five weekends in jail, and 30 days in jail at a later date for aggravated assault, a fourth degree felony, and endangering children, a first degree misdemeanor. He must also undergo a mental health and substance abuse assessment and treatment, and was ordered to pay monthly probation fees and court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Bond\/intervention in lieu violations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drew Ducheney, 30, of Ohio City, admitted to violating his bond and intervention in lieu by failing to appear to probation and failing a drug test. He was released on a surety bond and a further disposition hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. June 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a hearing denying violating his bond and intervention in lieu, Judge Burchfield\u00a0found that Storm McGinnis, 35, of Van Wert, did violate his bond and intervention in lieu by using an illegal substance. A pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for 9 a.m. July 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dustin Lehmkuhle, 36, of Van Wert, admitted to violating his bond and intervention in lieu by failing to report to probation and failing to follow through with treatment. Bond was set at $5,000 cash or surety, and Judge Burchfield ordered a pre-sentence investigation and set sentencing for 9 a.m. July 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brandon Craig, 43, of Van Wert, denied violating his bond and intervention in lieu. Judge Burchfield set bond at $100,000 cash or surety and a further hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. June 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plea changes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drake Schuemann, 18, of Delphos, entered a plea of guilty to a prosecutor\u2019s bill of information charging him with aggravated trespassing, a first degree misdemeanor. He was then sentenced to one year of community control, 26 hours of community service, and was ordered to undergo a mental health and substance abuse assess and any treatment, and pay court costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrii Osoba, 30, Warren, Michigan, entered a plea of guilty to a prosecutor\u2019s bill of information charging him with criminal trespassing, a first degree misdemeanor. Judge Burchfield ordered a misdemeanor report and set sentencing for 1:30 p.m. June 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Mitchell, 52, of Van Wert, changed his plea to guilty of obstructing justice, a fifth degree felony. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and sentencing was set for 9 a.m. July 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time waiver<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tristan Thompson, 20, of Celina, signed a time waiver in open court and requested additional time to prepare his case. A pre-trial conference was set for 8 a.m. June 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Ladd, Jr., signed a time waiver in open court and requested additional time to prepare his case. A pre-trial conference was scheduled for 8 a.m. June 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor A Van Wert man accused of supplying drugs that cost another city man his life was in court for sentencing on Wednesdasy. In Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Joshua Sargent, 44, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempted corrupting another with drugs, a third degree felony. Judge Martin D. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-04 12:59:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206328"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206331,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206328\/revisions\/206331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}