Man sentenced for theft at local auto store
Published 8:55 am Monday, January 22, 2018
CASSOPOLIS — A Niles man who committed more than $3,000 worth of fraudulent activity was sentenced to time served during a Cass County Circuit Court session Friday.
Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman sentenced Bobby James Roche, 31, of the 1600 block of Oak Street in Niles, to time served on charges of identity theft and false pretenses.
Roche pleaded guilty to the charges at a court appearance on Oct. 26, 2017.
Bobby Roche
The charges stem from an incident that took place on May 15, 2017, at Napa Auto Parts in Dowagiac. At the time of the incident, Roche made a number of purchases on the account of another individual without authorization. Roche had done this at a number of auto part stores, before taking the purchased items to a pawn shop to sell. When confronted by police officers, Roche admitted to the offense, saying that he had sold the items to support a cocaine habit. In total, he obtained more than $3,000 worth of items due to fraudulent activity.
Roche is also currently on probation in Berrien County.
Both the prosecution and the defense were in favor of the time served sentence, which was recommended by the court, with assistant prosecutor Tiffiny Vohwinkle saying that Roche’s behavior from the time he was arrested to sentencing has led her to believe the time served sentence was appropriate.
“The people feel that Mr. Roche will continue to do as indicated [in a sentencing agreement],” Vohwinkle said. “So, the people at this time would recommend time served.”
Vohwinkle went on to recommend that Roche be placed in a drug treatment program in Berrien County, and to be on probation either in Cass or Berrien County.
“[A drug treatment program] would help him to get on the right path as far as his substance abuse problems and help provide some extra supervision for him as he goes through treatment,” Vohwinkle said.
Roche’s attorney James Miller also agreed with the sentence, adding that he did not think Roche should be put on probation in Cass County, as he was already on probation in Berrien County.
Ultimately, Herman adopted the recommendation and sentenced Roche to 94 days in Cass County Jail with credit for 94 days already served on the charges of identity theft and false pretenses.
Roche was also ordered to pay $3,131.37 in restitution to Napa Auto Parts.
