Sammual Miller

WARSAW — A Winona Lake man received a suspended sentence Monday, April 2, in the Kosciusko Circuit Court after reportedly describing to co-workers how he would shoot fellow employees if he were ever fired from his job. 

Sammual Miller, 29, 1206 Wooster Road, Winona Lake, was found guilty of possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor.

Miller, a former KGP Logistics employee, was arrested for intimidation in December after he told two co-workers how he would shoot all employees if he ever got fired. 

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Nov. 30, an officer with the Warsaw Police Department responded to an intimidation call at KGP Logistics. A human resources employee advised that while working on third shift, Miller went for a break and was found asleep in his vehicle. Employees tried to wake him by banging on the vehicle, but it took five minutes to wake him up. Because Miller was so deeply asleep, drug use was suspected, with the company planning to do a drug test and possibly terminate him.

At this time, two employees notified the human resources employee that sometime between October and November they had a frightening conversation with Miller. According to the employees, Miller told them if he was ever fired by phone, he would come to the back of the business, go over a fence and move through the building, shooting all the employees. He noted he would have to do it quickly to make it to the other side of the building before people escaped.

Both employees told the officer the same details. One of the employees further advised he was afraid because he had sold Miller a rifle approximately seven months prior.

The officer spoke with Miller, who admitted he had talked about “shooting the place up.” He told the officer he would force everyone to the side of the building with only one exit. He further admitted to having a rifle at his residence. The officer went to Miller’s residence and found the firearm, which was taken as evidence. The officer also found a glass smoking device that contained burnt marijuana.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz made it a point to clarify that nothing about this plea agreement or conviction has any effect on a civil protective order that is still in place in Superior Court 3, stating that the order remains in full force and effect until December 2019. 

“Sometimes work places can remind one of high school, with people not liking other people and talking about other people and exaggerating,” said Miller’s attorney, Jay Rigdon. “It appears that’s what you ended up with here.”

“The intimidation charges had no merit,” Rigdon added.

Judge Michael Reed sentenced Miller to sixty days in the Kosciusko County Jail, with the sentence suspended, providing Miller commits no further offenses. Miller was ordered to pay a $100 fine, a $200 drug interdiction fee and $300 in public defender reimbursement fees. Reed ordered that Miller’s firearm be forfeited to the Warsaw Police Department.

Two counts of intimidation were dismissed, pursuant to the plea agreement.