Final Muncie police officer in federal excessive force investigation pleads guilty
A final Muncie police officer charged in a federal police brutality investigation – whose case resulted in two undecided jury trials – has pleaded guilty to a federal charge and will give up his career in law enforcement.
Corey Posey has stood trial twice this year, accused of falsifying a report to cover up a fellow officer Chase Winkle’s physical assault of an arrestee in 2018. Court documents say that arrest was captured on body cameras. Both juries could not reach a unanimous verdict and Posey had been scheduled to go to trial again in January.
Now, he’s pleading guilty to one count of obstruction of justice. If the deal is agreed to by the court, Posey will serve no jail time – just probation, including three months of home detention. And he’ll participate in an alcohol treatment program, after being arrested for drunk driving in Howard County this summer.
A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
Posey will also be required to give up his Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board certification and cannot serve as a “sworn law enforcement officer” in the future.
The Muncie Police Department has confirmed that Posey, who had been on administrative leave since being charged in 2021, resigned from the department this week.
If the terms of the deal are accepted, Posey could be the only officer charged in the federal investigation who will not serve jail time.
Posey was added to the federal indictment more than a year after the first three officers were charged in the investigation. Federal prosecutors say he wrote a report minimizing Chase Winkle’s use of force. The FBI say Winkle, then a police officer and the police chief’s son, kicked, punched, used knee-strikes and a taser on several arrestees without justification.
Chase Winkle
Winkle pleaded guilty to 11 federal charges. He was sentenced in August to serve 10 years in federal prison. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he is serving his time in Memphis, Tennessee, with a release date of March 6, 2032.
When Winkle agreed to plead guilty and was fired by the department, current Chief Nathan Sloan told media in a statement, “These actions do not reflect what the Muncie Police Department stands for or should have stood for at the time of occurrence.”
Other Former Officers
On the same day Winkle was sentenced, former officer Jeremy Gibson was sentenced to 14 months in prison, after pleading guilty in May 2022 to two charges related to excessive force and covering up those actions. Gibson won’t begin his sentence until next January, so he can see the birth of his fourth child.
Former Sergeant Joseph Krejsa and Dalton Kurtz were also charged in the investigation.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Krejsa is serving his time in Glenville, West Virginia, with a release date of November 21, 2024. Kurtz is serving his time in Beaver, West Virginia, with a release date of February 21, 2024.
Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host. Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.
