By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Rick Leslie Kensinger

WARSAW — A Warsaw man will serve eight years in prison for dealing drugs and burglarizing a storage unit.

In the first case, Rick Leslie Kensinger, 40, Warsaw, was charged with dealing methamphetamine, a level 4 felony. He was also charged with burglary, a level 5 felony. Fifteen additional criminal charges, as well as two methamphetamine possession cases, were all dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Kensinger was sentenced in Kosciusko Circuit Court on Thursday, March 10.

In September 2020, following several controlled narcotic purchases and months of covert surveillance, the NET43 Drug Task Force and Warsaw Police Department SWAT executed a search warrant at a Warsaw home.

Inside the home, officers apprehended two people, including Kensinger. Multiple narcotics, with an approximate street value of $3,064, were found during the search. Narcotics seized during the search warrant included methamphetamine, morphine, marijuana, heroin and fentanyl. Kensinger’s co-defendant in this case, Lee Ann Lowrance, Larwill, has a pretrial conference in May.

On April 9, 2021, Warsaw Police officers responded to a report of items being stolen from a storage unit. A man said multiple large construction tools had been taken from his unit. The man said he spoke to the maintenance employee for the storage facility and was told the units were checked for locks every Monday and Friday, and that the man’s unit had a lock on it on Monday, April 5.

According to court documents, officers searched the area and found a white van on the other side of the storage locker facility. Officers decided to approach the vehicle and see if the occupants had any information related to the theft. One of the officers said he had seen the vehicle frequently parked at the facility in the past. The people in the van, one of which being Kensinger, were seen moving from the vehicle to the storage units several times.

Officers were aware that a red auger was stolen from the man’s storage unit and noticed a partially covered red auger in Kensinger’s vehicle. The officers were granted a search warrant for Kensinger’s storage unit and found several of the man’s stolen items inside.

“Mr. Kensinger realizes his actions were not right,” said Defense Attorney Travis Neff during court proceedings. “He was trying to take care of his family…he owns responsibility for his actions.”

For dealing methamphetamine, Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed sentenced Kensinger to five years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Kensinger also received a three-year sentence for burglary. Both counts will be served consecutively.

In total, Kensinger received an eight-year prison sentence. He has 376 days of jail time credit and must pay $1,010 in restitution to the NET43 Drug Task Force.

Judge Reed also recommended Kensinger for the Recovery While Incarcerated program while serving his sentence.

“We both know you have left me with no alternative,” said Judge Reed to Kensinger. “A man doesn’t have to be defined by his past but you’ve got to start working on changing.”