Sentencing Hearing Continued for Nathan VanDerAa

Nathan VanDerAa

Nathan VanDerAa’s sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court has been continued to March. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for Friday, January 27th.

On June 3rd, 2011, VanDerAa was arrested on a charge of Possession of Methamphetamine after a traffic stop and a few days later, Starke County officers arrived at his home in Star City and found that he was in the presence of a meth lab, firearms and ammunition. Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak filed methamphetamine related charges against him and the ATF was expected to file a federal charge for a firearm possession. Mrak recently dismissed the County’s charges against VanDerAa and they were transferred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Bend.

On July 14th, a Federal Grand Jury in South Bend indicted VanDerAa with two counts of Unlawful User of Controlled Substances in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition and one count of Manufacture of a Controlled Substance.

33-year-old Nathan VanDerAa, of Star City, pleaded guilty in October to a felony charge of Unlawful User of a Controlled Substance in Possession of a Firearm. A charge of Manufacture of a Controlled Substance was dropped as part of his plea agreement. He will be sentenced on that charge in March.