Teen Sentenced To Prison On Five Charges

Two men were sentenced to jail in Antelope County District Court last Wednesday after violating their previous court orders.

Collin Willert, 18, appeared for sentencing on five charges.

Judge James Kube revoked his two-year probation sentence from November 2018 and re-sentenced him on the original charges of attempted unlawful discharge of a firearm, a class II felony, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a class I misdemeanor.

For attempted unlawful discharge of a firearm, Willert was sentenced to an indeterminate term of not less than 3 nor more than 5 years in prison. He was given credit for 119 days served. He was ordered to serve a concurrent term of 6 months on the second charge.

Willert was given additional prison time for the crimes he committed in the second case while he was on probation—theft by unlawful taking, a class II misdemeanor; second degree trespassing, a class II misdemeanor; and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a class I misdemeanor.

He was sentenced to a term of 6 months on the first two counts and term of 1 year for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Kube ordered that the last three sentences be served concurrently; however, they will run consecutively to the sentence in the first case. He was given credit for 101 days served and ordered to pay $138 in court costs.

The judge said Willert must serve at least two years before he will be eligible for parole or three years before his mandatory release.

Antelope County Attorney Joe Abler said the original charges stem from a case in which the Willert used a 20-gauge shotgun to shoot “a big hole” in the wall of a home. After being placed on probation, he later broke into someone’s home and enlisted the help of some juveniles to take a weight set, Abler said.

“This court, at sentencing, told him, ‘Look this is dangerous stuff, but you’re a kid, you need to grow up and here’s the opportunity to do so.’ That was in November,” the county attorney said.
“We turn around and here he is again, right out of the chute, doesn’t even complete a class on probation. He’s basically leading a little Oakdale gang with a bunch of juveniles.”

Abler recommended that the judge revoke Willert’s probation and incarcerate him.

Martin Klein said his client “is not a bad person, he just makes bad choices.”

“If he goes to Lincoln, I’m not sure he will come out the same person,” Klein said. “He needs to figure out something in his life to get structure. Probation would be ideal because it’s going to help him in society in the long run.”

Willert read a statement to the judge, requesting another chance at probation and making promises to make changes in his life.

“I would like to take responsibility for my actions and admit that I screwed up,” he read.

In the end, Judge Kube said he agrees with his attorney; however, he also agrees with the county attorney.

“As Mr. Klein indicates, what you need is some structure in your life. That is exactly what I was thinking back in November 2018,” the judge said. “I have to say Mr. Abler’s right. You weren’t on probation very long and it fell apart. I am unconvinced that being on probation is the answer.”

Judge Kube found that Willert was no longer a candidate for probation, in either case, and sentenced him to prison.

“The big issue for you will be the day that you get released—what kind of mindset you have and what you want to do with that,” the judge said. “I hope you have the same mindset then as what you are telling me today.” ​

Jeremy Jones was also sentenced in district court. This time, on a charge to revoke his post release supervision.

Jones admitted to the allegation and was sentenced to the Antelope County Jail for the remainder of his post-release supervision term, which is slated to end on Oct. 6, 2019.

The judge said the revocation was based on the fact that Jones had failed to report to his probation officer and tested positive for drugs at his last court appearance.

Public defender Pat Carney said his client “would rather not continue to report because it makes things difficult with employment.”

Jones apologized for the last time he was in court saying he “was out of line,” but he is ready to move on now.

“I haven’t been charged with any crimes since 2017,” he said. “I just want to get back to my life, your honor.”

Judge Kube said taking Jones off post-release supervision “doesn’t address the issues.” 

“When you say I just want to get back to my life and not have to worry about this post release crap, what that says to me is that you’ll probably end up using (drugs) again,” he said. “I hope that’s not the case.”

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