October 09, 2026
Paroled Killer Sentenced 18-40 Years for Teen Sex Crime in Coldwater
Headline card by The Night Desk
What happened
COLDWATER, Mich. — A Lansing man who spent nearly three decades in prison for murder will spend at least 18 more years behind bars for a sex crime against a 15-year-old girl.
Acting Branch County Circuit Judge Brent Weigle sentenced Gregory Wines, 47, on Wednesday, October 7, to 18 to 40 years in prison after Wines entered a no-contest plea August 12 to third-degree criminal sexual conduct as a fourth habitual offender. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as one at sentencing.
How he was caught
The investigation began after police learned Wines had brought a teenage girl to Coldwater. According to court records, the victim said she met Wines through the Nonames dating app — Wines picked her up from her home and took her to a Coldwater trailer park. Investigators learned the pair stopped at Walmart, where Wines bought Plan B, the morning-after pill, before taking the girl home.
Coldwater Police Detective Sgt. Sarah Gunneman reviewed surveillance footage and used a Flock license plate reader near I-69 to identify the vehicle and its plate — the trail that led investigators to Wines. Former Branch County Prosecutor Zack Stempien filed the charges in January.
Wines originally faced two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes. He ultimately pleaded no contest to one CSC charge. A second, 2024 case charging Wines with solicitation of a minor in a Jackson County sting operation was dismissed with the plea and sentencing.
The pattern the court saw
State records show Wines was convicted in the 1994 kidnapping, robbery and murder of a pregnant Kent County jail clerk — a crime for which he was originally sentenced to life in prison. He was released after nearly three decades following a resentencing prompted by court rulings against mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders.
At sentencing, his own public defender, Terri Norris, said Wines never matured or received help or treatment in prison — and that the sexual assault offense occurred shortly after his parole ended.
This is a developing story. The Night Desk will update this article as new information is released.
Source: Coldwater Daily Reporter — read the original report
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