Two Clare County men and one Gladwin County man are behind bars following their sentencings for felony convictions in Clare County Circuit Court.
Judge Roy Mienk on Monday ordered Steven John Caplan, 29, of Harrison to 13 months to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to third degree fleeing and eluding police in March; a misdemeanor traffic violation was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis said.
Mienk also ordered Caplan, who was charged as a habitual third offender, to pay $898 in fines, fees and costs, and credited him for 183 days served.
The conviction stemmed from a Clare County Sheriff’s investigation in February 2023.
In a second recent case, Waldo Dewey Bruner, 62, of Gladwin, pleaded guilty as charged March 15 to two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct as a fourth-offense habitual offender after an investigation by the Clare County Sheriff’s Department at the end of 2023, Ambrozaitis said.
Clare County Circuit Judge Tara Hovey sentenced him May 6 to serve 3 to 15 years in prison on both counts, the maximum sentence the judge could impose, to be served concurrently to one another but consecutive to any term of incarceration as a result of a parole violation, according to Ambrozaitis.
Bruner did not receive credit for time served in the Clare County Jail because he was on parole for a prior criminal sexual conduct conviction when he committed the later offenses, according to Ambrozaitis.
Hovey also ordered Bruner to pay $136 in state fees and $130 in crime victim rights fees.
In a third case, Hovey sentenced Phillip Martin Hartwig, 43,
of Harrison to serve 2 to 20 years in prison with 304 days credit, and ordered him to pay $258 in fees, Ambrozaitis said.
Hartwig pleaded guilty as charged March 15 to carjacking following an investigation by the Clare Police Department in July 2023.
Bruner and Hartwig are currently at the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center at the state prison in Jackson, awaiting placement.
Caplan remains in the Clare County Jail awaiting transfer.
