A Valparaiso resident was sentenced to six years after pleading guilty to a charge of burglary in connection with his forced entry in August 2007 of the Porter County PACT office to steal two drug-test urine samples, one of them his own.

Joseph William Klinkman, 24, who at the time of his arrest was residing at 252 Michigan St. in Valparaiso, was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in the Department of Corrections (DOC), two of those years suspended, by Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Cheryl Polarek told the Chesterton Tribune on Thursday. Klinkman was also sentenced to two years on probation following his release from DOC, Polarek said.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Det. Jeff Balon of the Valparaiso Police Department, at 9:27 a.m. Aug. 8 an employee of the PACT office at 254 S. Morgan Blvd. discovered the burglary of the facility. Balon stated in his affidavit that the only things missing from the office were two drug-test urine samples, one belonging to Klinkman, collected on Aug. 7.

In an interview the same day, Balon stated, Klinkman denied involvement in the burglary, but the person who submitted the other drug-test urine sample, an associate of Klinkman from drug court, later advised Balon that Klinkman had forcibly entered the PACT office during the night to remove both samples because he believed that he and his associate would test positive for a controlled substance. In a subsequent interview, Balon stated, Klinkman admitted to the burglary and the theft of the urine samples.

Burglary of a non-residential building is a Class C felony punishable by a term of two to eight years, Polarek said, and Klinkman agreed to a plea-and-argue deal with a five-year cap on incarceration. Klinkman’s attorney argued for two years of probation to allow Klinkman to enter drug rehabilitation, Polarek said, while she herself argued for a sentence of four years in DOC. Harper sentenced Klinkman to six years in DOC, suspend two, and two additional years of probation on his release from DOC. Klinkman was also sentenced to time served on an accompanying probation revocation charge, Polarek noted.

Posted 8/22/2008