WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
A Sturgis felon will spend at least five years in prison for leading authorities on a high-speed chase that included a stretch of roadway in downtown Sturgis.
Dylan Brand, 27, was sentenced last week by St. Joseph County Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman to a period of five up to 17 years.
Brand turned down a plea bargain for a five-year maximum prison sentence to go to trial on charges of third-degree fleeing and eluding police, third-degree resisting arrest and felon in possession of a firearm.
A St. Joseph County Circuit Court jury found him guilty on all charges in September after a two-day trial.
Brand will now go to Branch County to face charges of first-degree home invasion, a 20-year offense, again as a habitual offender with a possible life sentence.
The incidents stem from an October 2021 case in which Brand allegedly robbed a Bronson-area woman and fled the scene in a BMW. A woman in the car with Brand, 28-year-old Taja Rogers, of Sturgis, was sentenced up to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to possession of meth.
