Starke County- In January of 2020, the Indiana State Police Investigations Division at the Lowell Post was requested to initiate an investigation into misappropriation of evidence at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department. The investigation centered around drugs and cash that went missing from the evidence room at the sheriff’s department.
As a result of this investigation, in September of 2022, a grand jury was assembled, and an indictment was subsequently brought against Don Ferguson with the following charges:
- Official Misconduct- Level 6 Felony (4 counts)
- Theft of a Firearm- Level 6 Felony
- Theft- Class A Misdemeanor
- False Reporting- Class B Misdemeanor
- Conversion- Class A Misdemeanor
For the next three years, this case worked its way through the court system and in August of 2025, a jury trial began and concluded with not guilty findings of 4 of the 8 charges. He was found not guilty of two of the Official Misconduct charges, the Theft of a Firearm and the misdemeanor Theft charge. There was a hung jury on the remaining 4 charges.
On September 23, 2025, Don Ferguson plead guilty to Filing a False Police Report- Class B Misdemeanor. The remaining charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to 60 days in the Starke County Jail to begin immediately and 4 months of probation upon release from the jail.
There was a special judge as well as a special prosecutor assigned to this case. The judge was Judge Crystal Kocher (Pulaski County) and Stanley Levco (Evansville) was the prosecutor.
