Two Johnson County men who were facing criminal charges have pled guilty and been sentenced for child neglect and counterfeiting, respectively.
The Daily Journal has previously reported about these cases, and is sharing this update to give resolution to our earlier reporting on crime in the community.
Bargersville man sentenced in child neglect case
A Bargersville man will not face additional jail time after he pled no contest to leaving his child in the back of a van with dirty conditions in December in Florida.
Lincoln T. Germana, 28, pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor to a judge in Volusia County, Florida on Aug. 11. He was sentenced to 63 days in jail, with a 63-day jail credit. He was also ordered to pay $524 in court fees, according to court records.
He was originally charged with child neglect and grand theft auto, both third-degree felonies, in December. Prosecutors later reduced the felony charge to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in January and the theft charge was
dropped entirely, according to online court records.
Lincoln Germana was arrested in December along with his wife, Amanda N. Germana, 26, after the couple was reported missing in Johnson County.
On Dec. 13, a relative of Lincoln Germana called police and said she had not heard from them for a few days. The relative told police a relative of Amanda Germana had been watching Amanda and Lincoln Germana’s daughter for several days and was concerned about their absence, according to a Greenwood Police report.
The relative also reported the couple had a baby with them who they were watching for an unidentified mother. The relative was not told who the baby belongs to, the report said.
Three days after the couple was reported missing, officers with the Florida conservation officers received a call from police in Johnson County saying they had tracked a cell phone connected to the Germanas to DeLeon Springs State Park. When officers arrived, they found a stolen rental van. They watched the van and requested assistance from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, according to a Volusia County Sheriff’s Office report.
Deputies and officers continued to watch the van for several minutes before the Germanas were spotted. Once the couple made it to the van, police performed a felony stop and arrested the couple. They found an infant in a car seat in the back cargo area of the van. Police say the car seat was held in place with a bungee cord, which was deemed “extremely unsafe,” the report shows.
The stolen van also had a foul smell coming from it due to an “overwhelming amount” of unwashed clothing and dirty diapers. There were several poorly secured items, including large flashlights, hanging above the car seat. The infant was separated from the driver’s and passenger’s seat at the front of the vehicle by a large metal divider, which meant the drivers could not access the child in an emergency, according to the report.
The baby was medically and the infant was given to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), according to the report.
The couple refused to speak with police after their arrests, but Amanda Germana did tell police the child was not hers. The couple also gave two different names for the baby, the report shows. The infant was later given a DNA test and results showed the Germanas were the child’s parents.
Amanda Germana pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor to a Volusia County judge on May 25. She was sentenced to 55 days in jail, with a 55-day jail credit, and was given 12 months on probation. She was also ordered to pay $374 in court fees, according to online court records.
Man sentenced for counterfeiting
A Greenwood man who attempted to buy lottery tickets with fake money pled guilty and was sentenced to nearly 1.5 years in jail.
Nathan August Floring, 34, pleded guilty to counterfeiting, a Level 6 felony, in Johnson County Superior Court 3 on Aug. 11. He was sentenced to 547 days in jail, with a 254-day jail credit, meaning he will serve 293 days in jail. The sentence will be served consecutive to a 547-day sentence in an unrelated case that was also decided on Aug. 11.
He was also ordered to pay $100 in restitution to the Thornton’s gas station where he attempted to buy tickets with fake money.
The Greenwood Police Department responded to a theft report on April 21, 2021 at Thornton’s gas station, 1600 S. U.S. 31, Greenwood. An employee told police that a man, later identified as Floring, came inside the gas station, bought five lottery tickets and went outside to scratch them off. Floring then came back in, and asked to buy five more tickets, which cost $100. He threw a bill on the counter and quickly left, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The cashier immediately noticed the $100 bill was fake because it had “play money” written on it. She ran outside after Floring, but he drove off, court documents said.
Officers ran Floring’s license plate, and met him at his house in Greenwood. He told police he did not know the $100 bill was fake and said he was paid with that money from a construction job. He gave officers another fake bill he had and the five lottery tickets from the gas station.
Floring was released at the scene but later identified in a photo lineup. A warrant was later issued for his arrest.
