Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 746
Joaquin S. Echeverria, 28, of Brenham, Texas, (in custody) appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh last week for preliminary hearing. Escheverria is accused of a Class 1 C felony, possession of more than 28 grams of methamphetamine, with intent to deliver, alleged Feb. 19. Antelope County public defender Pat Carney requested continuance. Taylor continued the hearing to March 20. Escheverria was remanded back to the custody of Antelope County sheriff Bob Moore, pending posting $100,000, 10%...
Joaquin S. Echeverria, 28, of Brenham, Texas, (in custody) appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh on Feb. 21 for first hearing on a Class 1 C felony. Echeverria is charged with possession of more than 28 grams of methamphetamine, with intent to deliver, alleged Feb. 19. If convicted of the felony, Echeverria faces up to 50 years in prison, with a minimum of five years. Echeverria requested court-appointed counsel. Taylor appointed Antelope County public defender Pat Carney. Preliminary hearing...
Scarcely one square yard of a Neligh property was not covered by accumulated junk, trash, and debris, according to an Antelope County judge. The Honorable Donna Taylor, on Feb. 26, reached a verdict in a Neligh nuisance case. Kipp V. Polston, 46, of Neligh appeared in front of Taylor for a Feb.7 bench trial on a charge he violated Neligh’s nuisance ordinance. After hearing testimony and receiving evidence, Taylor took the case under advisement while she reviewed evidence and personally drove by the property, located just one block west of t...
Two defendants, who were recently arrested on warrants issued Feb. 1, appeared in front of the Honorable James Kube in the Antelope County district courtroom in Neligh last Wednesday morning. Harley J. Snyder, 21, last known address, Lincoln, and Haiden Sleister, last known address, Oakdale, were both in the custody of Antelope County sheriff Bob Moore. Snyder had turned himself in to Lincoln authorities, while Sleister was arrested at the Madison County Jail when he posted bond on charges alleged there. Both men requested court-appointed...
Jake A. Winterburn, 42, of Meadow Grove has been sentenced to one year in the Holt County Jail in O’Neill for third-offense driving under the influence of alcohol. Winterburn appeared for sentencing in front of the Honorable Mark Kozisec in the Holt County district courtroom Monday, Feb. 26. He was given credit for one day previously served. Assuming he loses no good time, he must serve 189 days before his mandatory release. In addition to incarceration, Winterburn was fined $1,000 and assessed $147 costs of prosecution for the Class 3W m...
Kristopher Dorrie, 39, of Albion appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh last Wednesday, Feb. 21, on a third-degree assault charge. Dorrie pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement with Antelope County prosecutor Joe Smith. In return, Smith recommended a fine only. Although Dorrie testified he didn’t think the victim, Cody Luscomb, was injured, he agreed to pay Luscomb’s restitution claim of $500. “I picked him up and we went to the ground, no punches,” Dorrie said. “(Luscomb) said he was (i...
Two separate jury trials have been set for an Oakdale man accused of driving during revocation/suspension and other crimes in September 2023 and in January. Shane Sleister, 49, of Oakdale (in custody), appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh on Feb. 21, in the two similar cases. Sleister’s attorney, public defender Pat Carney, asked Taylor to set separate trials in front of different juries. Antelope County attorney Joe Smith estimated one- to two-day trial in each case. Taylor set the t...
Sydney M. Abbott, 31, of O’Neill appeared in front of the Honorable Kale Burdick in the Holt County courtroom in O’Neill on Feb. 20, for sentencing on three crimes committed Aug. 15, 2023, in O’Neill, Count I, driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class W misdemeanor; Count II, leave scene of accident, a Class 2 misdemeanor; and Count III, obstruct a peace officer, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Burdick placed Abbott on probation for 18 months, including 10 days in the Holt County Jail on each counts I and III, to be served concurrently. She was g...
An Auburn man will spend at least the next three years in prison after hitting and injuring an Atkinson police officer in May 2023. Jacob L. McVay, 23, of Auburn faced the Honorable Mark Kozisec in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill on Monday to be sentenced for three crimes - Count I, assault officer/health care professional, a Class 1D felony; Count II, terroristic threats, a Class 3A felony; and Count III, driving under the influence of alcohol – cause serious bodily injury, a Class 3A felony. Originally charged with 11 counts, fi...
A 39-year-old O’Neill man accepted a plea bargain last week that included Holt County attorney Brent Kelly dropping three of four felony charges. Ronald M. Allision faced the Honorable Mark Kozisec in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill on Feb. 12 for pretrial hearing on five counts alleged between June 1, 2021, and Feb. 28, 2022, in O’Neill, including third-degree sexual assault of a child, a Class 3A felony; contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a Class I misdemeanor; and three Class 2 felony counts of delivery of a controlled...
Jose A. Trejo Jr., 19, of O’Neill appeared in the Holt County courtroom in O’Neill on Feb. 13 on two cases. In the first, he had previously pleaded guilty and was fined $300 for possession of marijuana and $100 for possession of drug paraphernalia, both committed Oct. 29, in O’Neill, as well as $49 costs. He was granted time to pay the fines and costs but had not done so by the Feb. 6 due date. Trejo chose to sit out the fines and costs in the Holt County Jail, at the rate of $150 per day. In the second case, Trejo was charged with Count I, mi...
The Honorable Donna Taylor handed sentences down from the county court bench in Neligh last Wednesday, Feb.7. Joe Hurd served as prosecutor in the absence of Antelope County attorney Joe Smith. Kegan J. McAllister, 19, of Tilden faced Taylor for sentencing on a count of third-degree domestic assault, committed July 6, 2023. Antelope County public defender Pat Carney asked the judge to consider probation. He said the assault was not a “fist to cuffs type of thing.” Taylor noted a presentence report did not recommend probation because of sev...
A Petersburg man accused of passing a counterfeit $100 bill last fall doesn’t want a lawyer but wants his bond modified. Thomas R. Miller, 54, had waived his right to counsel at his first court appearance last month and was denied a request for a bail refund. Miller appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday, Feb. 7, for further arraignment on a Class 2 misdemeanor, second-degree forgery, alleged Oct. 11, when he is accused of passing the bill at Elgin One Stop. He again waived his right to counsel. He entered a not g...
The Honorable Donna Taylor presided over Antelope County court at the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh on Feb. 7. Handling prosecutor duties in the absence of Antelope County attorney Joe Smith was Joe Hurd, special deputy county attorney. Denis Kerkman, 90, of Tilden faced Taylor for sentencing on his latest conviction of violating a harassment protection order. Although Hurd indicated he had no evidence regarding sentencing, other than what was included in a presentence investigation report, he recommended probation with no jail time, a...
A domestic incident last October in O’Neill has cost each of the participants $550, after they faced the Honorable Kale Burdick in the Holt County courtroom in O’Neill last Tuesday, Feb. 6, on criminal charges. Deals with Holt County attorney Brent Kelly diminished the penalties from what they could have been. Jacob J. Reed, 42, faced Burdick for arraignment on two charges, third-degree domestic assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and assault by strangulation/suffocation, a Class 3A felony. Pursuant to the plea agreement with Kelly, Reed ple...
Several defendants either admitted to committing crimes or allowed themselves to be found guilty by pleading no contest when they faced the Honorable James Kube in the Antelope County district courtroom in Neligh last Wednesday, Jan. 31, Plea bargains with Antelope County attorney Joe Smith were announced in five cases, with defendants set for sentencing March 27. Koda Fernau, 19, of Stanton appeared with his court-appointed attorney, Ryan Stover, of Norfolk, charged with a Class 3A felony, terroristic threats, related to . He pleaded guilty to...
A one-day bench trial scheduled for Monday in the Antelope County district courtroom in Neligh did not occur, due to an 11th hour plea deal. Rider C. Short, 23, of Oakdale appeared with his attorney, Frederick Bartell of Norfolk, facing charges included in a second amended information filed by Antelope County attorney Joe Smith on Oct. 25, 2023, Count I, operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest, a Class 4 felony, with notation that the charge included the willful reckless operation of the vehicle; Count II, unauthorized use of a propelled...
Ryan Brummels, 23, of Ewing appeared in front of the Honorable James Kube in the Antelope County district courtroom in Neligh last Friday, Jan. 19, to be sentenced for first-degree sexual assault of a minor, a Class 2 felony committed Dec. 26, 2022. After reviewing a report provided by the Nebraska probation office and school records submitted by the defendant, Kube found Brummels was not a suitable candidate for probation, indicating a sentence lesser than incarceration would depreciate the seriousness of the offense and promote disrespect...
Rowdy L. Burke, 52, of Elgin faced the Honorable Donna Taylor in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh last Wednesday on a felony charge of driving under revocation, alleged Nov. 14, 2023, in Elgin. Represented by Martin Klein of Neligh, Burke waived his right to a preliminary hearing and Taylor bound the case over to the Antelope County district court. Burke is set for district court arraignment Jan. 31. Bond, in the amount of $10,000, 10% cash is continued. Burke was stopped Nov. 14, 2023, in Elgin by a Nebraska State Patrol officer on two...
Jeffrey A. Reinke, 35, of Omaha faced the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday, Jan. 17, in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh, in a five-year-old case. He was charged with Count I, leave accident, fail to furnish information, a Class 2 misdemeanor, and Count II, no operator’s license, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Reinke’s attorney, Gregory Pivovar of Bellevue, had filed a motion to dismiss or discharge, on Jan. 14. He indicated, in the motion, that neither the complaint filed Feb. 26, 2018, nor a warrant issued in May 2018, were ever ser...
A 35-year-old O’Neill man, accused in several county court cases, resolved them along with his resentencing in a Holt County district court felony case, when he faced two judges in the county courtrooms in O’Neill last week. The Honorable Mark Kozisek revoked probation ordered in April 2023 and, on Monday, Jan. 8, resentenced Shawn D. Crist on a Class 4 felony conviction of possession of methamphetamine. Kozisek ordered Crist to serve two years in a facility under the jurisdiction of the Nebraska Department of Corrections for the crime com...
Alex T. Berglund, 32, of Chambers faced the Honorable Kale Burdick in the Holt County courtroom in O’Neill on Jan. 2, to be sentenced on his conviction of DUI, third offense. Berglund pleaded no contest in November 2023, per terms of a plea agreement with Holt County attorney Brent Kelly, to the charge that was reduced from driving under the influence of alcohol, high test, third offense. Burdick placed Berglund on probation for 30 months. He ordered payment of $930 in probation fees, $105 costs of prosecution and a $1,000 fine. He was also sen...
Stacy M. Reed, 44, of Atkinson appeared in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill last Monday, Jan. 8, to be sentenced for a domestic violence conviction. Reed pleaded guilty as part of an Oct. 30, 2023, plea bargain with Holt County attorney Brent Kelly, who removed previous offenses from the charge, reducing it from a Class 3A felony to a Class 1 misdemeanor. According to the information filed by Kelly, Reed was convicted of domestic assault in Brown County on Oct. 6, 2021, and in Holt County on May 3, 2022. The Honorable Mark K...
A 19-year-old O’Neill man, originally accused of 11 criminal charges alleged April 9, 2023, has been found competent to stand trial. During Sept. 25, 2023, arraignment proceedings in the Holt County district courtroom in O’Neill, after the entry of a guilty plea to amended charges, the Honorable Mark Kozisek questioned defendant Ethan J. Peterson’s competency and ordered an evaluation. Following the evaluation by a Norfolk specialist, Kozisek found Peterson is competent and the matter proceeded to a plea hearing Jan. 8. A plea bargain with...
Former Neligh chief of police, Michael D. Wright, was fined $500 last week for firing his service weapon and injuring 38-year-old Josie Auld of Norfolk, while on duty in Neligh in May 2022. Wright pleaded no contest to a Class 1 misdemeanor, third-degree assault, when he faced the Honorable Ross Stoffer in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh. Wright was represented by Gary Young Jr. of Lincoln and the case was prosecuted by assistant Nebraska Attorney General David Bydalek. The case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol. Bydalek...
