Thanksgiving guest sentenced to 40 years for burglarizing, beating elderly man

Jason Snader (Photo: Dearborn County Sheriff’s Office)

DEARBORN COUNTY, IN — A 40-year prison sentence has been handed down to 39-year-old Jason Snader, who pleaded guilty to charges that he burglarized and beat an elderly Moores Hill man.

The charges stemmed from a burglary in December 2018 at a home on Akes Road in Moores Hill. Dearborn County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens said in a press release that Snader, who had spent Thanksgiving at the home, went there with his nephew, Brandon Goins, with the intent to rob then-86-year-old Joseph Hofstetter. Deddens says the two men beat Hofstetter and left him for dead after the robbery.

Hofstetter passed away 15 months after sustaining the injuries.

“Snader’s actions were reprehensible,” Deddens said. “He took advantage of a senior citizen, someone he knew was vulnerable and as a result caused great injuries to Mr. Hofstetter.”

Goins entered a guilty plea in August 2020 to the burglary charge and was sentenced to 30 years in prison with 12 years of the sentence suspended. A condition of his plea agreement was that he testify against Snader.

Snader’s plea agreement allowed Judge James D. Humphrey to make the determination of the final sentence.

After considering the evidence during a hearing in August, Judge Humphrey imposed the sentence of 40 years with an additional seven years probation on Count 1, Burglary Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury (Level 1 Felony).

Snader is from Ohio.