Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A Warsaw man convicted earlier this year of dealing cocaine learned his sentence Monday afternoon.
Michael Otto Hale, 31, of Warsaw, will spend 50 years in prison for dealing cocaine of more than three grams earlier this year. Hale received the presumptive sentence of 20 years and 30 years were added for aggravating circumstances, namely Hale's previous drug convictions.
Hale also was ordered to pay a $1 fine, a $200 drug interdiction fee and court costs. He received credit for 175 days already spent in jail and 175 days credit for good behavior for a total of 350 days credit toward the sentence.
In July, a jury convicted Hale after hearing two days of testimony.
Hale previously served jail time for another charge of dealing cocaine and was released approximately three months before being arrested for this charge in March.
In January 2002, Hale was found guilty of resisting law enforcement, a Class A misdemeanor, after injuring an officer while trying to avoid a move from a cell block to a holding cell in the Kosciusko County Jail.
