CLAY COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Local law enforcement in Clay County have been working for months on the arrest and sentencing of individuals involved in a major drug bust.
Monday, the man prosecutors describe as the main supplier of those drugs, was sentenced.
On February 26th, David Smith Jr. was arrested by the Clay County Sheriff’s Department. He was charged with possession and intent to deal methamphetamine.
Monday, Clay County prosecutor Emily Clarke argued on the state’s behalf in court.
“The state asked for a 25-year sentence, 23 of which was executed and 2 suspended to probation”, Clarke said. “The judge, today, gave him a 12-year sentence, with 10 years executed in prison and 2 years suspended to probation.”
The decision on the sentence rested solely with Circuit Court Judge Joseph Trout.
“The prosecutor doesn’t always decide the sentence”, Clarke said. “In this case, I asked for a 25-year sentence and that is not what he got. Obviously, we have to respect the decision of the court, but it’s not always up to the prosecution on what happens to a defendant. That’s how the court system works and a lot of times, the judge gets to decide the sentence.”
The arrest came during the bust of a large drug ring in the county.
Prosecutors say Smith was the main supplier of methamphetamine in the area.
“He was bringing in about 10 pounds a week”, Clarke said. “It was about a month-long, really intensive, investigation then this was the ultimate supplier of that methamphetamine into our county, Vigo, and even Sullivan counties.
In court, the state argued for a longer sentence because of the effect methamphetamine has had on all crime in the area.
“Methamphetamine is a huge problem in our community and it affects a lot of people”, Clarke said. “The amount of methamphetamine that he was bringing into our county affected a ton of users in our community. Which ultimately effects the community because crimes like burglary, theft, OVWIs, batteries, are all committed as a result of using methamphetamine, so it effects our county. I think it was really important to the community that we are sending these large-scale drug users to prison.”
The county still has many pending cases relating to the February drug bust and those individuals are waiting for sentencing.
