WARSAW, Ind. – A northern Indiana sheriff pleaded guilty to an intimidation charge as his trial on bribery and other counts was about to begin.

Kosciusko County Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine accepted a plea agreement Wednesday with prosecutors under which nine other charges will be dropped.

The judge scheduled a May 23 sentencing hearing. Rovenstine pleaded guilty to a level 6 felony charge that's punishable by up to 2-1/2 years in prison, but the judge could reduce it to a misdemeanor conviction.

Rovenstine was indicted last year on charges of accepting $40,000 to allow special privileges for a jail inmate and a visitor, including permitting unrecorded phone calls meant to hinder punishment of the inmate. The Republican sheriff was accused of intimidating a Warsaw police detective who became suspicious of Rovenstine's activities.