Hart man receives longer prison term for not testifying against co-defendant; claims threats were made against his child

Oomen

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

HART — A 33-year-old Hart man was sentenced Monday, Dec. 22, in 27th Circuit Court to a minimum of three-and-a-half years to a maximum of 25 years in prison for felony convictions of forgery and uttering and publishing.

Kevin Robert Oomen, of 3241 N. 72nd Ave., was looking at a prison sentence of up to two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty, Nov. 24, in exchange for his testimony against a co-defendant. However, Oomen stated Monday he chose not to testify because threats were made against his 7-year-old son. “A threat was communicated to his mother that his child would be harmed,” his attorney Christine Clancy Frisbie told Judge A. Anthony Monton.

“Nobody even wanted to investigate it,” Oomen said the judge. “The prosecution was more interested in a conviction than the safety of my son.”

“There are threats in a lot of cases that never come into fruition,” said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Kabot.

“When Mr. Oomen told us he would not be testifying, I offered him the chance to make a report of the threat to our detectives,” Prosecutor Joe Bizon told OCP. “He declined. He told me he would just not testify.” Bizon was not in circuit court Monday, because he was finishing a three-day jury trial in district court regarding protecting a vulnerable child.

Oomen, who is currently lodged in the Oceana County Jail, pleaded guilty to two forgery counts and one count of uttering and publishing, Nov. 24, in a plea deal that he agreed to testify and his jail time would be capped at 30 months. He was convicted as a four-time habitual offender.

With his habitual offender status, Oomen was initially facing up to life imprisonment, said Monton.

Oomen told the judge, Nov. 24,  that he forged some else’s signature on two checks for $300 each and cashed them at a local store in October.

The judge said Oomen was previously convicted of second-degree home invasion in 2002 in Muskegon County; larceny in Muskegon County; and uttering and publishing in Oceana County.

Oomen was also found guilty in 27th Circuit Court last March of unlawful use of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced in April to a one-year discretionary jail sentence, but ordered to serve three months forthwith, which was consecutive to another sentence.

All three prison terms ordered Monday run concurrent to each other, but consecutive to his sentence in Muskegon County, Monton said. Oomen receives no credit for his jail time, because he was on parole in Muskegon County, the judge said.

Oomen was also ordered to pay $198 in fines and costs and $2,450 in restitution.