Discrepancies in the testimony of the man at the center of a scandal that eventually led to the ouster of Kosciusko County’s sheriff arose during a jury trial Friday.

During Kevin Bronson’s testimony Friday, he told many stories about his life, but little can be verified – things such as his date of birth and the times he was in an Arizona prison differ from official records.  

Bronson was investigated by Warsaw police after an email from Jane Wear told police Bronson intimidated her son. The investigation led to a grand jury indictment in February 2016, which included then-Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine and former Grace College professor Mark Soto.

Rovenstine was charged with 10 felony counts including bribery and official misconduct. Prosecutors say that Bronson included Rovenstine in his will for $40,000 in exchange for special privileges in the jail.

The lawyer who drafted one of the wills, Rebecca Soto, testified  Thursday she knew the will was meaningless and said it was like “monopoly money.”

All charges connecting Rovenstine to Bronson were dropped, but Rovenstine pleaded guilty to one count of intimidation based on a heated phone call with Warsaw police officer Paul Heaton, who was looking into the case. That led Rovenstine to vacate his position as sheriff.

Mark Soto opted to take his case to trial, which began last week, and is scheduled to continue today.

After almost a full day of testimony Friday, Bronson is expected to return to the witness stand for cross examination today.

But who is Bronson?

Bronson was born Kevin Bailin in South Bend in the early ’60s. Court records place his date of birth as Feb. 19, 1960, but during testimony Friday Bronson said he was born in 1962.

Bronson’s father, Samuel Bailin, was a successful businessman who specialized in frozen foods.

Bronson testified that his dad was strict. “There was no second, winning was rewarded and losing was severely punished,” he said. Bronson said he didn’t  watch TV, but instead focused on martial arts. He has been inducted into the national martial arts hall of fame three times.

At some point, he then moved to Arizona and began to operate a 24-hour fitness center.

Bronson testified it was while he was running the spa that he was put in contact with the mafia. The mafia used the spa to launder money, he said.

Bronson testified they would send vouchers to people saying they won a free annual membership, and then write in the accounting books it was paid for. This scheme landed Bronson in prison in Florence, Ariz., in 1986 in a federal case, Bronson testified. There is no record of a federal criminal case filed against Bronson.

Bronson was listed in the Arizona Department of Corrections under the name Michael Vito Buciano, a name Bronson confirmed in testimony to using in the early 1990s.

Buciano served a prison sentence from 1986 to 1994, according to records from the Arizona Department of Corrections. He was convicted of  attempt to commit a fraudulent insurance claim, burglary and theft. Records also show Buciano was convicted of a prison escape in 1989.  

While in court, prosecutors said Bronson was released in 1992. Records from Arizona say Buciano was released in 1994.

In 1992, Buciano filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Arizona and the Department of Corrections alleging a violation of civil rights. The case was dismissed in 1995.

Bronson testified Friday he turned down an offer to enter the witness protection program.

Bronson said the government changed his criminal history to protect him from the mob, which is why he was sent to state prison instead of federal.

“I did not escape,” Kevin said when asked by deputy prosecutor Tami Napier about the charge.

During testimony Friday, Bronson said he joined the Aryan Brotherhood after watching the gang commit a series of brutal murders.

The white supremacist prison gang formed in California in the 1960s and now have a nationwide presence.

“They asked me, ‘Do I want to ride with them or ride alone?’ I said, ‘I ride with you.’”

Bronson said he rose to be one of the four generals in the gang.

Around 1995 to 1996 is the same time Kevin said an old friend called him and asked him to move to Warsaw.

Bronson did so and soon met Soto.

“I saw a man who was overweight and out of shape, and I said I would help him with that if he would tell me about this Jesus fellow,” Bronson said,

Bronson soon apparently began his path toward Christianity and eventually changed his name back to Kevin Bronson from Buciano.

After meeting with Soto, Bronson sought to leave the Aryan Brotherhood. He said the gang’s council approved his request to exit.  

But Bronson said he was forced to re-enter when “he reached his hand back in” to stop a supposed hit on an Elkhart  County judge. Other witnesses testified that the target of the murder plot was instead a prosecutor or a witness when they heard the story from Bronson.

Bronson also testified Friday that he saved Rovenstine from a hit by “reaching back in.”

By January 1997, Bronson had his first run-in with Indiana law enforcement on a criminal conversion charge. That was the first in a series of small crimes throughout the late ’90s in Kosciusko and Elkhart counties.

Eventually, Bronson’s crimes included burglary and numerous traffic charges and he was sentenced to prison in 2002 for violating probation on a theft conviction.

Despite being portrayed in earlier testimony as “scary” due to his martial arts prowess and mob and gang ties, little of Bronson’s criminal history involved violence.

He was convicted of intimidation in 2008, but most of his legal problems had to do with theft.

He has been convicted on at least two cocaine-related charges, he is a habitual traffic offender and his diver’s license has been suspended for life.

After his third induction into the martial arts hall of fame, Bronson says he was contacted about making a movie about his life.

Bronson said he and Soto started putting the plan for a movie into motion and began working with Christ Covenant Church Pastor Nate McLaurin and Ohio attorney David Baker.

Bronson said McLaurin was enthusiastic about a movie portraying Bronson’s conversion to Christianity. McLaurin testified he only invested in the movie because he thought it would help free Bronson from a dangerous gang.

After a jail stay in 2011. Bronson avoided legal problems until an arrest in April 2014 for cocaine possession. Bronson was able to get the charge reduced to a misdemeanor that resulted in no prison time.

That plea deal sparked the attention of Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker who testified he spoke with County Prosecutor Dan Hampton about his concerns that Bronson was free again.

Bronson was arrested again in December 2014 on a possession of cocaine charge, and Warsaw police began an investigation that led to the grand jury indictments.