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A plea agreement submitted Friday afternoon in Kosciusko Circuit Court may put an end to a case that began June 2, 2002.
Billy Dean Little, 34, of Columbia City, submitted a four-page plea agreement to Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed.
In the document, Little agrees to plead guilty to aggravated battery if charges of being a serious violent felon in possession of a weapon and being a habitual offender are dropped.
If the court accepts the plea, Little will be sentenced to 19 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, and he will receive good-time credit for the time he has served since June 4, 2002. He also will pay restitution as determined by the Kosciusko County Probation Department.
Little told Judge Reed that his plea was entered voluntarily and that he understood the charges to which he was pleading guilty.
When questioned by Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Hearn in open court, Little admitted his guilt.
"Did you fire the gun?" asked Hearn.
"Yes."
"You were the shooter?" Hearn asked.
"Yes."
Little will return to court May 25 at 10 a.m. If the court accepts the plea agreement, Little will be sentenced at that time.
In March 2003, a 12-person jury found Little guilty of shooting Bruce Allen Smith of North Webster, on June 4, 2002, after Little, his brother and another man were refused service at Good Times, a bar formerly on South Buffalo Street, Warsaw.
The gun and a shirt Little was wearing when the shooting took place later were recovered along Crystal Lake Road, where police investigators were told the items could be found. Little apparently changed his shirt after the shooting because he knew police were looking for a man in a white shirt.
Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed handed down a 70-year sentence to Little in April 2003 for aggravated battery and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, both Class B felony charges, and for being a habitual offender. Little received 20 years for each of the first two charges, with the habitual offender charge adding 30 years.
Little was tried on both charges during the same trial, which was allowed in 2003, but he requested another trial after a similar case was decided in August 2003. On August 27, 2003, the verdict in Hines v. State of Indiana said it was not legal for a person to be put on trial for a felony and for being a felon with a weapon at the same time.
Since Little was tried and convicted of both crimes at the same time, his request was granted. The second trial ended with a hung jury May 4. The 12-person jury deliberated more than eight hours before Judge Reed declared a mistrial.
Little was returned to the custody of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, and he will remain incarcerated until his May 25 court date.
