COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A Fort Wayne woman has pled no contest to making false statements to deputies regarding the operator of the boat involved in a fatal accident last August.
Tasha Adams pled no contest to one count of lying to a police officer when she gave a false statement to deputies regarding the operator of the boat.
The case arose out of the fatal boat crash that occurred August 3, 2024 on Coldwater Lake.
After the crash, first responders and the Branch County Marine Patrol responded to the incident. It was alleged that Adams and her daughter stated that the daughter was the driver of the boat and not her husband Zachery Adams. Prosecutor Zachary Stempien say that charges are still pending for Zachery Adams.
In a statement Monday Stempien said “The reality is that the Michigan sentencing guidelines in this case set a potential range of incarceration very low due to the lack of criminal history by the defendant. Further, in consideration of the potential factual issues and arguments in this case, the plea guarantees a conviction and resolution. The plea eliminates the need for a jury trial, which was specifically discussed with the decedent’s family and other interested parties”.
Stempien says his office will continue to work with the victim’s family in the ongoing prosecution of the other parties charged in this case.
The boating accident that took the life of 46-year-old Cory Butler of Grabill Indiana. Butler died from his injuries at a Kalamazoo hospital following a collision involving two speed boats on Coldwater Lake near Pearl Beach and the south Pearl Road area.
The exact sentence for Tasha Adams has not been finalized at this time.
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