Probation

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan State football player Dion Sims and another man have been sentenced to a year's probation in connection with the thefts of laptop computers from Detroit schools. The Wayne County prosecutor's office says Sims and Christopher Schambre also on Monday were placed in a program for youthful offenders. Their records would be expunged if they fulfill conditions of the court's probation. They are required to perform community service, and Sims was ordered to remain in school.

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area woman who authorities say set her boyfriend on fire and chased him with a butcher knife has been sentenced to three years of probation and time already served. Forty-year-old Sheila Golly of Roseville was sentenced Tuesday in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens. She also was sentenced to 142 days in jail, with credit for time served. She pleaded guilty last month to assault with a dangerous weapon. Her defense lawyer has said the plea agreement was in the best interests of all involved.

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — Court records show a judge has extended Nicole Richie's probation until March to give her more time to complete alcohol education classes. Richie was not present in court Tuesday when the order was made. She will have to complete the classes by February. Richie's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, did not immediately return a phone message and e-mail seeking comment. Richie was arrested in December 2006 after witnesses reported seeing her black Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle headed the wrong way on a freeway in Burbank.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon woman who tried to circumcise her 3-month-old son at home after reading the Old Testament and watching YouTube videos has been sentenced to five years of probation. Keemonta Peterson pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal mistreatment. The 30-year-old Portland woman must also undergo mental health treatment. Peterson called 911 and the boy was rushed to a hospital last October after her botched effort left the infant bleeding uncontrollably and in intense pain.

A judge sentenced a former Mishawaka high school wrestler to indefinite probation and 120 days in the Juvenile Justice Center for trying to sexually assault of a fellow teammate. He will not have to serve that time if he does everything laid out in his probation, including 50 hours of community service by the end of October, having no contact with the victim or the five other defendants, and having random drug tests. Of the six convicted in the case, three are still waiting to be sentenced.

SOUTH BEND - A former University of Notre Dame employee caught planting a video camera in a campus women's restroom will have to spend time behind bars after violating his probation. In February 2012, Don Steinke, 60, pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism and one count of attempted voyeurism, each a class D felony. The St. Joseph County prosecutor's office says video recordings were found on four separate dates between January 9, 2009 and March 7, 2011. Superior Judge Jerome J. Frese decided to treat all four counts of class A misdemeanors instead of felonies.

A Benton Harbor leader received probation and community service for intimidation and harassment charges. City commissioner Dennis Knowles pleaded guilty to the charges. Police said he threatened to harm a woman and her son. He said he was upset with the woman he said was trying to sell drugs to his ex-girlfriend. The judge sentenced him to 5 months probation, 20 hours of community service, and more than 500 dollars in costs and fines.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Lindsay Lohan is returning to court to give a judge her second update on how she's faring under strict new probation requirements. The hearing on Tuesday is expected to be much like Lohan's last progress update: short and without surprises. The starlet has been doing cleanup work at the county morgue and attending psychotherapy sessions in an effort to avoid problems with her probation for separate drunken driving and theft cases. Lohan's spokesman Steve Honig says the actress has made her community service her "primary focus" and is eager for Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner to receive the details.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - A Grand Rapids woman has been sentenced to serve a year of probation for posting a fake online ad offering sex with a woman with whom she argued outside a Meijer store. Amy Burnett was sentenced Wednesday in Kent County Circuit Court. She pleaded no contest to unlawfully posting a message and using a computer to commit a crime. A woman confronted Burnett on June 22 after finding a dog left unattended in Burnett's vehicle. Police say the 37-year-old Burnett continued to contact the woman for days afterward and used the victim's telephone number to post a Craigslist ad offering sexual favors for a monetary donation.

A New Paris farm owner will not go to prison for animal cruelty. Thames Osborne, who owned New Hope Farms, pleaded guilty last month after investigators removed six horses, seven dogs and eight cats in February 2009. They also found two dead dogs, a dead horse and horse bones. Authorities say many of the animals were abandoned, and without proper food, water and shelter. A judge suspended jail time for Osborne and sentenced him to one year probation, 40 hours of community service, and ordered him to pay restitution.

SOUTH BEND - A former University of Notre Dame employee caught planting a video camera in a campus women's restroom will have to spend time behind bars after violating his probation. In February 2012, Don Steinke, 60, pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism and one count of attempted voyeurism, each a class D felony. The St. Joseph County prosecutor's office says video recordings were found on four separate dates between January 9, 2009 and March 7, 2011. Superior Judge Jerome J. Frese decided to treat all four counts of class A misdemeanors instead of felonies.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - A Grand Rapids woman has been sentenced to serve a year of probation for posting a fake online ad offering sex with a woman with whom she argued outside a Meijer store. Amy Burnett was sentenced Wednesday in Kent County Circuit Court. She pleaded no contest to unlawfully posting a message and using a computer to commit a crime. A woman confronted Burnett on June 22 after finding a dog left unattended in Burnett's vehicle. Police say the 37-year-old Burnett continued to contact the woman for days afterward and used the victim's telephone number to post a Craigslist ad offering sexual favors for a monetary donation.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY - He's under fire for getting 153 parking tickets since 2008. Some say South Bend attorney Andre Gammage, candidate for St. Joseph County probate judge, disregarded the law. It's a story our partners at the South Bend Tribune investigated. He's since paid all the tickets, but will this cost him the election? On Friday, the South Bend Tribune withdrew their endorsement of Gammage saying their feelings changed once they uncovered his past with the tickets.

We know the punishment for a man responsible for a string of burglaries across Eklhart and St. Joseph counties last year. Chad Weddle, 19, is sentenced to 10 years. Weddle confessed to 7 counts of burglary and theft for break-ins in his neighborhood last September. Weddle was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 2 years in Elkhart County's Community Corrections and 4 years  probation.

A judge sentenced a former Mishawaka high school wrestler to indefinite probation and 120 days in the Juvenile Justice Center for trying to sexually assault of a fellow teammate. He will not have to serve that time if he does everything laid out in his probation, including 50 hours of community service by the end of October, having no contact with the victim or the five other defendants, and having random drug tests. Of the six convicted in the case, three are still waiting to be sentenced.

One of the wrestlers found guilty in the Mishawaka High School sex assault case has been sentenced to 6 months of probation, 20 hours of community service and a 60 day suspended sentence. He must also write a letter of apology to the victim. He and five others are accused of trying to sexually assault a teammate two years ago. That is why this is in juvenile court and no names are being released. So far, four of the six wrestlers have either been found guilty or pleaded guilty in the case.  This was the first sentencing.

A (then) 16-year-old who killed his mother's boyfriend two years ago is headed to prison. Josh Smith of Stevensville was sentenced to probation and "boot camp" for the beating death of David Loveland in 2010. He was 15 at the time. But in February of this year, Smith was charged with stealing a credit card and using it. He pleaded guilty in that case. Because Smith violated his probation, a judge sentenced the teenager to 2 to 15 years in prison for manslaughter in the Loveland death.

SOUTH BEND - Garnering 46 percent of the votes, Andre Gammage won the five-way race Tuesday for the Democratic nomination for St. Joseph probate judge. Gammage will face Republican nominee Jim Fox in the general election in November. Gammage said after his victory that he will continue to emphasize the same issues for the general election. “We want to be innovative and proactive in terms of our approach to the court. We want to go outside the four walls of the court to try to help head off some of the problems in the community,” he said.

A man whose dogs were found starving in a South Bend home was sentenced to 30 days in jail, which he's already completed, and just under a year of probation. Prosecutors say 28-year-old Antoine Murray left his dogs behind when he moved out of town. He told police he had to leave the house for his own safety because he was involved in a drug dispute. Two Presa Canarios were already dead when animal control went to the house last May. The two that were alive were apparently feeding off one of the carcasses.

CASSOPOLIS - On Dec. 16, an 87-year-old Dowagiac area woman was startled to find someone entering her home through her bathroom window. The intruder was Becky Dehring, 32, of Niles, who had been in the victim's home before as a guest. But as the elderly homeowner stated Friday in Cass County Circuit Court, she later discovered Dehring would take Vicodin she'd steal from the homeowner during her frequent sips of water. As for the Dec. 16 home invasion, the victim said she was shocked someone she trusted would commit such a crime.