A South Bend resident learned the hard way about the consequences of lying to a police officer Friday morning in Cass County Court.

Judge Michael Dodge sentenced Eric Christopher Baierl, 31, to 18 months of probation on several charges, including bringing a controlled substance into a correctional facility and possession of marijuana and amphetamines. Baierl pleaded guilty to the charges in a prior appearance in court on Oct. 13.

The charges stem from a traffic stop that occurred in Cassopolis back on June 21, on Broadway Street near South Street. An officer with the village police department had stopped Baierl’s vehicle for speeding, and noticed the odor of intoxicants during his investigation.

“He administrated a field sobriety test, and he concluded that you didn’t pass those,” Dodge said. “As a result, your vehicle was searched. That search disclosed a 16 ounce can of beer that was open near the driver’s seat. Inside there was a backpack, and inside that were 7 grams of marijuana and three unlabeled pill vials.”

One of those bottles contained several Adderall pills, which Baierl did not have a prescription for.

While in transit to the Cass County jailhouse, the man slipped out of his handcuffs, reached through the protective cage inside the squad car and grabbed ahold of the pills. He then hid a number of them inside his shoes.

“When the officer returned and he realized that, he asked you what happened to them and you lied to him, saying that you had swallowed them,” Dodge said.

While being processed inside the facility, the officer told Baierl that if he should relinquish any contraband on him before being locked up, it would be a felony at that point. At that moment, the South Bend man revealed that he had hidden the Adderall pills, though just entering the jailhouse with the drugs concealed made the crime a felony charge.

“The defendant obviously made his situation much worse by lying to the officer, sneaking those controlled substances into the jail,” said Assistant Prosecutor Tiffiny Vohwinkle. “He would have probably been facing misdemeanor charges and not be before this court had he just been truthful with the officer.”

Baierl had only a single conviction on his criminal record prior to the incident. The special education teacher said that he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, which led to him self-medicating himself, Baierl said.

“I’ve taken measures to make sure something like this never happens again,” he said. “I no longer use drugs or alcohol. I no longer associate with people who use drugs or alcohol.”

Also sentenced Friday:

• Kaitlyn Michelle Martin, 19, of Colon, Michigan, to one year of probation for possession of marijuana.

• John Lawrence Hayes Jr., 32, of Cassopolis, to 18 months of probation for assault with a dangerous weapon.

• Roy Lee Fee IV, 29, of Vandalia, to 270 days in jail for failure to comply with the sex offender registry.

• Kenneth Paul Dekilder, 19, of Jones, to one year of probation for possession of marijuana.

• Scott Allen Schmidtendorff, 46, of Dowagiac, to 18 months of probation and 95 days in jail for operating while intoxicated.