Former Muncie police officer heads to court for third jury trial

MUNCIE — A former Muncie police officer will return to court for his third jury trial on a false statement charge July 8.

In January 2024, a federal judge rejected a plea deal for former officer Corey Posey, even though both the prosecution and defense had agreed to it.

The trial is expected to last three days.

Under the agreement, Posey was to receive a one-year suspended prison sentence, including three months of house arrest.

A federal judge has thrown out the conviction, saying probation was not strict enough for a law enforcement officer who gave false testimony.

The judge presented the parties with several options, including consent to a retrial.

Posey is the fifth Muncie police officer in a federal case against current and former Muncie police officers for police brutality or attempted cover-ups

Posey faces up to 10 years in prison.

The other four former Muncie police officers have already pleaded guilty. They are either in prison or have already served their sentences.

• Chase Winkle – incarcerated at Memphis FCI in Memphis, TN; expected release date is 12/22/2031
• Sergeant Joseph Krejsa – Incarcerated at Gilmer FCI in West Virginia; Estimated Release Date: 08/13/2024
• Dalton Kurtz – formerly incarcerated at Beckley FCI in West Virginia; released February 1, 2024
• Jeremy Gibson – Incarcerated at Elkton FCI in Ohio; expected release date is 11/23/2024.

After two suspended trials in 2023, Posey agreed to plead guilty to one count of obstructing justice (falsifying a report).
At the time, Posey’s attorney argued he should not be sentenced to prison, citing the fact that he has a minor criminal history, has admitted responsibility, is steadily employed and is “not at risk” of reoffending given that he has surrendered his law enforcement license.

“It is important to note that Corey has paid and will pay a high price,” Posey’s attorney wrote in a sentencing memorandum to the court. “He will have a felony conviction on his permanent criminal record that will never disappear for the rest of his life.”

The prosecutors agreed.

“Although he had prior law enforcement experience, Posey was still on probation at the time of the offense, and most importantly, his field training officer was the son of then-Chief Chase Winkle, who (as the Court heard at the hearing) had significant influence over his colleagues at MPD,” federal prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “Posey is and should be a felon and should never be a police officer again.”

For more than two years, while the case was pending, taxpayers paid Posey’s salary.

WRTV

He was on paid administrative leave from April 14, 2021 to August 3, 2023, at which time the Muncie Police Merit Commission granted him unpaid leave.

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Posey resigned from the Muncie Police Department in October 2023.

The charges against Corey Posey stem from a 2018 incident in which Posey allegedly wrote a report that suggested suspect Lonnie Gannom was not following orders.

According to the indictment, Posey omitted from the report information that his colleague, Officer Chase Winkle, had kneed Gannom in the head and neck and that Winkle had caused injuries to Gannom.

Gannom suffered facial fractures due to the excessive force used by Winkle.

“Posey’s statements regarding this incident, including his sworn testimony at trial, were not true or factual,” the plea agreement states.

During his last trial, Posey testified in his defense and said he felt Gannom was not cooperating with his instructions during the arrest and at one point withdrew his hand.

Posey stated that during the incident and in reviewing the officer’s body camera footage, Posey was focused on his own actions and not the actions of the other officers, including Winkle.

Posey said that when he wrote the report, Posey knew he did not cause the injuries to Gann. There were several officers at the scene, but Posey did not know who caused the injuries, Posey testified.

Posey’s attorneys pointed out that Posey was a rookie at the time, still in training, and Sergeant Joseph Krejsa was assigned to investigate the incident in Gannom.

Posey’s attorney also pointed out that Posey wrote in his report that Gannom suffered “possible facial fractures” and had to be transported to the hospital.

Muncie Police Department/Photo provided

Muncie Police Chief Nathan Sloan also testified and said regarding Posey’s report on the Gannom incident, “I don’t think it was a lie.”

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Sergeant Brent Brown, a retired Muncie police physical tactics instructor, testified that officers are trained to document their own and other officers’ uses of force.

Corey Posey has another criminal case pending.

He was arrested for drunken driving after Kokomo police say he rear-ended another vehicle on U.S. 31. A confirmed chemical test showed his blood-alcohol concentration was .087, which is above the legal limit of .08.

Howard County prosecutors filed formal charges against Posey for:

• Driving under the influence of alcohol, exposing a person to danger
• Vehicle operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 but less than 0.15

His trial in this criminal case is scheduled for September 27.