Rovenstine Trial Starts Tuesday; Sheriff's Legal Problems Began With Bronson's Hollywood Dream
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Michael Anderson-manderson@timesuniononline.com
The jury trial of Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron ?Rovenstine is set to begin Tuesday. In February 2016, Rovenstine was indicted on 10 felony counts, along with former Grace College Professor Mark Soto and mixed martial artist Kevin Bronson. Rovenstine is charged with three counts of bribery, one count of intimidation, one count assisting a criminal and five counts of official misconduct. Rovenstine is accused of agreeing to take $40,000 to allow Bronson to meet with Soto unmonitored while Bronson was in Kosciusko County Jail. The trial is scheduled to take place over six days in Kosciusko County Circuit Court with special judge Elkhart Superior Court I Judge Evan Roberts presiding. The road to the jury trial began years ago after Bronson returned to Warsaw. The Movie Bronson had many run-ins with the law and finally left Warsaw. He returned and became a member of Christ’s Covenant Church. He said he had turned away from his life of drug abuse and membership in the Aryan Nation to become a Christian. He said he was talking to multiple movie companies about producing a documentary chronicling his conversion. The pastor and many church members agreed to invest money in the movie. The movie deal fell through and Bronson was arrested on cocaine charges late in 2014. Soto was working with Bronson to make the movie. Soto was Bronson’s friend and “spiritual mentor,” according to court documents and previous published reports. Warsaw Police Officer then–Sgt. Paul Heaton was a member of the church and began an investigation into the Bronson and Soto’s fundraising actives. The indictment alleges Bronson and Soto used threats to extort money to finance the movie and operate Bronson’s Warsaw martial arts gym, Young Dragon Enterprises. The indictment states these threats happened between 2012 and 2015. As Bronson sat in jail on the cocaine charge, Heaton continued to investigate Soto and Bronson’s activities. Bronson was being held on a $25,000 surety bond. Curtis Stazedahl, of Ace Bail Bonds in Warsaw, said a person held on that type of bond can be released by paying 8 percent – $2,000. The person also would be required to have a co-signer. There were no prosecutorial or jurisdictional holds on Bronson at the time. Rovenstine And Heaton Most of the allegations against?Rovenstine are outlined in a probable cause affidavit for a search warrant filed by the Indiana State Police. The affidavit alleges Heaton and Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker discovered Rovenstine was allowing Soto and Bronson to meet unmonitored in the jail. The indictment alleges Rovenstine agreed to accept $40,000 to allow the unmonitored calls and provide other special privileges to Bronson. Heaton and Whitaker sent a formal request to Rovenstine to record all of Bronson’s calls and meetings for purposes of the investigation. The unrecorded calls never stopped, the affidavit sates. On July 2, 2015, Heaton and Whitaker meet with Rovenstine to discuss the unrecorded contacts. After Whitaker left, Rovenstine told Heaton, “It almost sounded to me like Scott was infering I was dirty. ... Well you know, I could go into, you’re a drug investigator. You do things with informants that are convicted felons. I mean, I could paint a story like you’re some crook because you’re dealing with informants that are ... you know ... and they accused you of doing this,” the affidavit states. The affidavit states Whitaker took a picture of Soto and Bronson meeting unmonitored on Aug. 4, 2015. Also on Aug. 4, 2015, ISP took over the investigation. Later in August 2015, Heaton was denied entry to the jail. Bronson was then transfered to Marshall County Jail to ensure his calls and meetings were being recorded. The affidavit alleges Rovenstine threatened Heaton in a subsequent telephone call by saying, “I dont wanna start World War III, because everybody’s gonna lose. I guarantee you, you think you hold everything. You don’t. This will be ugly.” Sometime after July 2015, KCSD launched an investigation into Heaton under allegations that he conducted himself improperly during drug investigations. On March 11, 2016, a Warsaw woman, Kim Richardson, told the Times-Union she approached KCSD to complain about Heaton in July 2015. She claimed Heaton harassed her, threatened to plant evidence and told her he would bust her for meth if she didn’t cooperate with him. She filed for a protective order against Heaton. The order was denied without a hearing by Kosciusko Superior Court III Judge Joe Suttton. The results of KCSD’s investigation into Heaton’s conduct have never been released to the public. The Indictment On Feb. 29, Special Prosecutor Nelson Chipman announced a grand jury had indicted Rovenstine, Soto and Bronson on 10 felony counts each. Chipman, Marshall County prosecutor, was appointed to handle the case. Recently though, Chipman was sidelined due to health reasons. Tami Napier and Matthew Sarber, his deputies, will handle the trial. Rovenstine hired defense attorney James Voyles to represent him in the case. Voyles is a high-profile attorney who worked on the defense team of boxer Mike Tyson, who was tried and convicted of rape in 1992. Kosciusko County Circuit Court Judge Michael Reed recused himself from the case, and Roberts was appointed to preside over the preceedings. Court Motions Over the course of the case, many motions have been filed. One of the main decisions the court made was where to hold the trial. Chipman asked for the trial to be moved out Kosciusko County, fearing a local jury may be favorable to Rovenstine. Roberts denied the motion. Chipman later tried to get jurors from outside the county. After questioning “test jurors” in November, Roberts ruled the jury pool could be made up of Kosciusko County residents. Roberts granted immunity to five state witness in this case. Immunity means statements made during thier testimony can’t be used against them in future court preceedings. Three of them are employees at KCSD: former Sheriff William "Rocky" Goshert, Det. Sgt. Joe Mooney and jailer Joseph Courtois. Soto and Bronson also were granted immunity. In earlier court documents, Chipman said he is close to a plea agreement with Bronson. One issue remains to be decided: Rovenstine’s lawyers have sought to exclude evidence from David Baker. Baker was an attorney reportedly working with Bronson on the movie deal. According to Bronson and Soto’s indictment, the pair threatened Baker’s life if he refused to provide legal services and create documents for the movie contract without payment. Voyles argued since Baker represented Bronson, conversations with him are attorney–client privilege and can’t be admitted into court. Roberts said he will hear further arguments on the issue and rule before the trial begins. In addition to facing prison time if convicted, Rovenstine would lose his position as sheriff. According to Matt Kochevar, co-general counsel at the Indiana Election Commission, if Rovenstine is convicted of a felony, he would be removed from office under state law immediately. Kosciusko County Republican precinct committeemen would caucus within 30 days to fill the position, Kochevar said.
