Defendants Sentenced in Starke Circuit Court

 A Walkerton man who admitted strangling his ex-girlfriend during a feud over a security department and a Knox man who admitted driving in spite of a lifetime license suspension were both sentenced yesterday in Starke Circuit Court.

Patrick Rackley, 22, of Walkerton, will serve 18 months on probation on a strangulation charge, stemming from an Aug. 12, 2014 run-in with his former girlfriend. He was also ordered to pay her $100 in restitution. Rackley told Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall they were arguing over a security deposit refund from an apartment they had rented together. A no-contact order remains in place.

Judge Hall also accepted a guilty plea from Cord Colgrove, 24, of Knox to a charge of operating a vehicle after a lifetime suspension. That charge stems from an Aug. 14, 2014 traffic stop at the intersection of John and Heaton Streets in Knox. Colgrove was sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended to be served on probation and the other two years to be served on home detention with electronic monitoring through Starke County Community Corrections.