Converse Man Sentenced In Jelly Stone Campground Burglary Case
September 3, 2020 at 12:54 a.m.
By Amanda [email protected]
Thomas Lee Ankrom, 31, of Converse, appeared Wednesday in Kosciusko Superior Court III and was sentenced to nine years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with six years executed and three years suspended to formal probation for a Level 4 felony burglary conviction. He received an identical sentence for a second Level 4 felony burglary conviction that will run concurrently. Ankrom has accrued 946 days of jail time credit.
In a separate case, Ankrom was sentenced to two years in the IDOC, with one year executed and one year suspended to formal probation for a Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement conviction, and one year suspended to probation for a Class A misdemeanor conviction for possession of a cell phone while incarcerated.
Each case’s sentences will run consecutively.
According to the probable cause affidavits, on Jan. 29, 2018, deputies with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office responded to a burglary in progress at the Jelly Stone Campground.
When police arrived, they observed a car heading north on CR 850E at a high rate of speed. The vehicle led police on a pursuit, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph. Occupants of the vehicle at one point threw a handgun out the window, before crossing into Whitley County and crashing on the side of the road. The occupants then fled on foot, and when police caught them they were identified as Ankrom and Michael Chapman. In Ankrom’s pockets, according to court papers, police found collectible coins. They also found a .22 caliber handgun.
Police at the campground located Kenneth Sanchez, who was holding a handgun. When police approached Sanchez, he threw the gun to the ground. Police determined that 19 residences at the campground had been forcibly broken into, and there were piles of property outside of a residence that appeared was there to be picked up later.
All three of the guns, found on Sanchez’s person, in the vehicle and the one thrown out the window, were stolen from the campground. Also stolen was a Blu-ray player, several TVs and various other items.
When police spoke with the three men, according to court papers, they admitted they came from Converse to the campground and stole items.
According to court records, Ankrom was convicted of burglary in Elkhart County. He will have to answer to a probation violation charge pending there, his attorney Doug Lemon said in court Wednesday.
Sanchez was sentenced for the campground burglaries to six years in the IDOC, with three years suspended to probation, to be served consecutively with two years in IDOC for a third burglarly conviction.
Chapman received eight years in the IDOC, with two years suspended, to be served consecutively to two years executed in IDOC for resisting law enforcement with a vehicle.
The second case Ankrom was sentenced for Wednesday stems from an Oct. 21, 2018, incident while he was incarcerated in the Kosciusko County Jail.
According to the affidavit in that case, jail staff were conducting a search to remove contraband from Ankrom’s cell block, to which Ankrom told them they would have to fight him to search him.
Jailers ended up finding a cell phone that Ankrom admitted belonged to him, but in the process, Ankrom punched a guard in the face.
Superior Court III Judge Joe Sutton was out Wednesday, and sentencing was handed down by Judge G. David Lauer.
Thomas Lee Ankrom, 31, of Converse, appeared Wednesday in Kosciusko Superior Court III and was sentenced to nine years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with six years executed and three years suspended to formal probation for a Level 4 felony burglary conviction. He received an identical sentence for a second Level 4 felony burglary conviction that will run concurrently. Ankrom has accrued 946 days of jail time credit.
In a separate case, Ankrom was sentenced to two years in the IDOC, with one year executed and one year suspended to formal probation for a Level 6 felony resisting law enforcement conviction, and one year suspended to probation for a Class A misdemeanor conviction for possession of a cell phone while incarcerated.
Each case’s sentences will run consecutively.
According to the probable cause affidavits, on Jan. 29, 2018, deputies with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office responded to a burglary in progress at the Jelly Stone Campground.
When police arrived, they observed a car heading north on CR 850E at a high rate of speed. The vehicle led police on a pursuit, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph. Occupants of the vehicle at one point threw a handgun out the window, before crossing into Whitley County and crashing on the side of the road. The occupants then fled on foot, and when police caught them they were identified as Ankrom and Michael Chapman. In Ankrom’s pockets, according to court papers, police found collectible coins. They also found a .22 caliber handgun.
Police at the campground located Kenneth Sanchez, who was holding a handgun. When police approached Sanchez, he threw the gun to the ground. Police determined that 19 residences at the campground had been forcibly broken into, and there were piles of property outside of a residence that appeared was there to be picked up later.
All three of the guns, found on Sanchez’s person, in the vehicle and the one thrown out the window, were stolen from the campground. Also stolen was a Blu-ray player, several TVs and various other items.
When police spoke with the three men, according to court papers, they admitted they came from Converse to the campground and stole items.
According to court records, Ankrom was convicted of burglary in Elkhart County. He will have to answer to a probation violation charge pending there, his attorney Doug Lemon said in court Wednesday.
Sanchez was sentenced for the campground burglaries to six years in the IDOC, with three years suspended to probation, to be served consecutively with two years in IDOC for a third burglarly conviction.
Chapman received eight years in the IDOC, with two years suspended, to be served consecutively to two years executed in IDOC for resisting law enforcement with a vehicle.
The second case Ankrom was sentenced for Wednesday stems from an Oct. 21, 2018, incident while he was incarcerated in the Kosciusko County Jail.
According to the affidavit in that case, jail staff were conducting a search to remove contraband from Ankrom’s cell block, to which Ankrom told them they would have to fight him to search him.
Jailers ended up finding a cell phone that Ankrom admitted belonged to him, but in the process, Ankrom punched a guard in the face.
Superior Court III Judge Joe Sutton was out Wednesday, and sentencing was handed down by Judge G. David Lauer.
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