Cody Paine

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was sentenced to six years at the Indiana Department of Corrections in the Kosciusko County Circuit Court Monday, June 3.

Cody Alexander Paine, 22, 419 S. Indiana St., A, Warsaw, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, a level 4 felony.

In August 2018, an officer with the Warsaw Police Department observed a vehicle westbound on US 30, approaching behind him at a high rate of speed with the bright lights activated. The vehicle continued to follow the officer’s vehicle with the brights activated. 

The officer pulled off the roadway, and the vehicle passed by, failing to dim the headlights. The officer then activated his vehicle’s emergency lights. The other vehicle continued on for over a mile while the officer followed with emergency lights activated. The vehicle stopped on CR 525W in Kosciusko County.

The officer approached the vehicle and identified the male driver and the two occupants of the vehicle. Paine was a passenger in the front seat. 

The driver had a suspended license and was removed from the vehicle. A handgun was observed in the driver’s door pocket. 

The vehicle was searched, and the officer found a large amount of plastic bags in the glove compartment as well as a plant material on the front passenger seat. Police removed the handgun and found a live cartridge in the chamber and cartridges in the magazine. 

Police searched Paine and found a plastic bag containing a white residue that field-tested positive for methamphetamine. Paine was arrested at that time. While being transported to the Kosciusko County Jail, Paine admitted to police that he had methamphetamine concealed in his shorts.

Officers removed two plastic bags from Paine’s shorts. One bag contained a crystal-like substance. The other bag contained three ziplock baggies that contained a crystal-like substance. The weight was marked on each baggie. 

Police field-tested the crystal substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine and had a combined weight of 11.5 grams. Paine was on probation when this incident occurred, which led to a probation violation charge as well.

Paine’s attorney, Antony Garza, told Judge Michael Reed that Paine has been accepted to the Jail Chemical Addiction Program and the Serenity House. 

Reed sentenced Paine to six years at the Indiana Department of Corrections for the charge of possession of methamphetamine. Reed suspended the IDOC placement and ordered the first 2 1/2 years of the sentence to be served at the Kosciusko County Jail. The last 3 1/2 years of the sentence were suspended and ordered to be served on formal probation. 

Due to Paine pleading guilty to the probation violation, Reed ordered the previous suspended sentence to be revoked and ordered Paine to serve the suspended portion of that sentence, one year at the Kosciusko County Jail. The sentences will be served consecutively. Reed said he had no objection to the sentences being served on work release. 

Paine was given 220 days of jail time credit and ordered to complete a substance abuse evaluation and any recommended treatment. Pursuant to the plea agreement, another charge was dismissed. Paine was also ordered to pay a minimum $200 drug interdiction fee.