Landstrom sentenced to five days in jail after jury finds him guilty

Former Van Buren Township fire fighter Kenneth Joseph Landstrom was sentenced to five days in jail by 34th District Court Judge Brian A. Oakley in his courtroom on March 29.
The charges against Landstrom were one count of lying to a VBT police officer (Lt. Ken Floro) and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor (his former stepdaughter), both misdemeanors, last June in VBT.
A jury trial was held Feb. 9 before Judge Oakley and the jury found him guilty of both charges. Landstrom was sent to the district court’s probation department for a pre-sentence report and recommendation for the judge before sentencing.
Landstrom also had been charged with lying to VBT Officer David Champagne and Sgt. A. Smith, but those charges were dropped and consolidated into the one charge.
Judge Oakley was upset with Landstrom for not staying away from the girl, who has since turned 17, who had been at the center of the criminal charges. The girl’s father Danny Rogers told Judge Oakley that Landstrom had sent messages to his family members with a picture of the girl at the top. Since cell phones are not allowed at 34th District Court, Judge Oakley asked the father to go out to his car to get his cell phone and show him, which he did.
While Landstrom did not send the messages to her, he meant it for her to see, Judge Oakley said. He had ordered no contact. Judge Oakley then sentenced him to five days in jail and Landstrom was immediately taken into custody to begin his sentence.
Robert Coutts was the retained defense attorney.