Valente Ceballos Jr.

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was sentenced today, Dec. 22, for taking part in a robbery and battery in 2015, resulting in a victim losing eyesight in one eye.

Valente Ceballos Jr., 423 E. Levi Lee Rd., Warsaw, was sentenced on a count of battery resulting in bodily injury, a level 5 felony. One count of robbery resulting in bodily injury was dismissed per the plea agreement.

The charges stem from an incident on Nov. 1, 2015, when Apolonio Corral, Ceballos and Armando Gutierrez had come into the victim’s residence because the victim had been with Corral’s daughter the night before.

The victim stated that he was sleeping on the couch at a friend’s house when he was awoken and observed Corral, Ceballos and Gutierrez in the residence. Corral, Ceballos and Gutierrez began hitting the victim on the head and face repeatedly. They then took the victim’s wallet with $500 and his Iphone.

The victim lost vision in that eye and was tested for hemorrhaging on the brain.

During his sentencing, prosecutor Katy Hampton mentioned she felt that Ceballos was not the person who had the “beef” with the victim, rather, she felt Ceballos made a bad decision to go along with the group.

Ceballos’ lawyer David Kolbe stated that Ceballos did not commit the robbery and that he had no prior felony convictions. Kolbe indicated this incident stemmed from a bad situation in which everyone was drinking at the time, including the victim. Kolbe said because Ceballos has a family in Louisiana to support, it would not accomplish anything to send him to jail. Kolbe advocated that Ceballos should be put on probation so he could live with his family and support them.

Ceballos said, “I accept responsibility for my involvement.”

Judge David Gates sentenced Ceballos to one year at the Kosciusko County Jail and two years on probation. Ceballos will receive 126 days of credit for time already served. Ceballos will not be allowed have contact with the victim.