Brandon Goins

KOSCIUSKO — A North Manchester man was sentenced on charges of possession of methamphetamine and false informing Monday, March 12, in the Kosciusko Circuit Court.

Brandon R. L. Goins, 32, 107 N. River Road, North Manchester, was found guilty on charges of possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, and false informing, a class B misdemeanor.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on June 7, 2016, an officer with the Warsaw City Police Department responded to a report of a suspicious male subject parked in a black pickup truck for an extended period of time.

When an officer arrived on the scene, the subject identified himself as Jason Smith and provided a birthdate. The officer ran the information and was unable to locate a driver’s license fitting the description. The subject then identified himself as Ryan Lee Smith. Once again, no matching information was found. Finally, the subject identified himself as Brandon Ryan Goins. The officer verified that the final identification was correct.

Goins advised he had lied about his identification because there was a warrant for his arrest in another county. The officer confirmed the warrant and began a search of Goins. The officer discovered a plastic baggie, a needle cap and $612 cash during the initial search.

The owner of the pickup truck arrived on scene and gave consent for police to search the vehicle. Upon searching the vehicle, the officer found a plastic bag that contained needles, a smoking pipe with a white residue, two used syringes containing a clear fluid, a plastic bag containing a green substance that was identified as marijuana, a metal spoon, cotton balls and several plastic bags containing a white powder substance. The officer field-tested the white substance, which tested positive as methamphetamine. Goins admitted that everything found in the truck belonged to him.

For the charge of possession of methamphetamine, Judge Michael Reed sentenced Goins to one year in the Kosciusko County Jail. For the charge of false informing, Goins received a sentence of 180 days in the Kosciusko County Jail. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently but consecutive to any other pending cases. Reed gave Goins four days of jail time credit. Pursuant to the plea agreement, all remaining charges were dismissed.