Gardner pleads guilty to 12-day false imprisonment, assault
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — A Sturgis man will face up to life in prison for holding his girlfriend captive for 12 days in March 2021.
Rocky Gardner, 39, pleaded guilty Monday, Dec. 12, to first degree criminal sexual conduct and false imprisonment as a second habitual offender. In exchange for his guilty plea, assistant prosecutor Deborah Davis agreed to drop 12 other charges against Gardner. Sentences for both charges will run concurrently.
Circuit Judge Paul Stutesman had Gardner admit under oath, “You restrained her from leaving” and “used force and coercion” for sex.
At times, the victim was tied up by Gardner, but at others, she went with him to his job and remained in his vehicle unrestrained, she testified during a preliminary examination in April. After 12 days under Gardner's control, the victim finally ran from their Sturgis home wearing sweatpants and a shirt, her only clothing.
The victim originally met Gardner at her work in November 2020 and moved in with him. On March 8, 2021, Gardner accused her of having a relationship with another man, pulled out a hunk of her hair and beat her.
Gardner erased all information from her phone and took it. He threw out her clothing and hog-tied her when he left. Sometimes he left her in a hole in the bathroom in the house’s crawl space. She testified he beat her if she did not cooperate when he sexually assaulted her.
He took her with him shopping and even to work. She said she sat in the car because he told her if she left, an alarm would sound.
“I was scared he would find me and hurt me,” the woman testified.
On the 12th day, Gardner left her phone on a dresser while he took a shower. She grabbed the phone and ran barefoot across the street to a gas station. A woman there took her to Howe, Indiana, where the victim called her mother.
The mother took the victim to Parkview LaGrange, Indiana, hospital. Doctors found the victim was bruised from head to toe, had acute kidney failure and had a fractured spine. LaGrange Police called in Sturgis Police for the investigation.
After a search of Gardner’s home, he was arrested.
Prior story :Area man charged with assault, holding woman captive 12 days
Judge Stutesman will sentence Gardner on Jan. 6. Because Gardner was convicted in 2002 for larceny of a firearm, breaking and entering and delivery of drugs, “the habitual offender won't extend the possible maximum life but rather, it would result in higher guidelines” and increase the minimum sentence, the judge explained.
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Gardner tried to assert an insanity defense, but was found competent to stand trial. His Monday plea came after trial on all 14 charges was set to take place later this week in St. Joseph County Circuit Court.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Rocky Gardner pleads guilty to 12-day false imprisonment, assault
