COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – One of the three young men involved in the March 2018 vandalism of over 100 tombstones and graves at the Oak Grove North Cemetery had his probation revoked Monday in Branch County Circuit Court and was ordered to serve time in the Michigan Department of Corrections.
20-year-old William Vanness was given a prison sentence of between 17 months and 10 years after prosecutors filed the probation violation in late July.
Vanness was originally given an 11 month jail sentence with credit for 222 days served last November after entering a no contest plea to malicious destruction of tombs over $20,000. He was also placed on probation for three years which included a curfew between 11:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. and electronic monitoring once his time behind bars was through.
Vanness, and the other two suspects, Johnathan Siler and Christopher Palmerton, Jr., were ordered to pay over $54,000 in restitution to the victims during their sentencing hearings last November.
