WARSAW, Ind. (AP) — Kosicusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine pleaded guilty to an intimidation charge as his trial on bribery and other counts was about to begin.
Rovenstine accepted a plea agreement Wednesday with prosecutors under which nine other charges will be dropped.
The judge scheduled a May 23 sentencing hearing. Rovenstine pleaded guilty to a level 6 felony charge that’s punishable by up to 2-1/2 years in prison, but the judge could reduce it to a misdemeanor conviction.
Rovenstine was indicted last year on charges of accepting $40,000 to allow special privileges for a jail inmate and a visitor, including permitting unrecorded phone calls meant to hinder punishment of the inmate. The Republican sheriff was accused of intimidating a Warsaw police detective who became suspicious of Rovenstine’s activities.
