COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The driver of a vehicle who led police on a high speed chase through three counties on April 20, 2016 was sentenced to between 5 ½ and 15 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections on Monday in Branch County Circuit Court.
29-year-old Jeromy David Hurd of Garrett, Indiana entered guilty pleas to third degree fleeing and eluding and for operating and maintaining a methamphetamine lab.
Four other counts were dismissed by prosecutors and Hurd was given credit for 110 days already served in the Branch County Jail.
23-year-old co-defendant Ashley Rose Eichinger has entered a guilty plea to a charge of possessing a controlled substance less than 25 grams. She was also scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.
Six police agencies were involved in the chase that went through Steuben, Branch and Hillsdale Counties with speeds that reached as high as 100 miles an hour.
The pursuit started in Fremont, Indiana and ended near Montgomery when the vehicle being pursued tried to drive through a field and got stuck in a swamp.
Defense Attorney J.R. Colbeck said his client was a meth user and Hurd asked the judge to allow him to get some help. But Prosecutor Ralph Kimble II noted Hurd’s past problems with police in asking for a lengthy sentence and Judge O’Grady said the high speed chase was extremely dangerous.
