HANCOCK COUNTY — An Indianapolis woman accused of selling methamphetamine in Hancock County will serve eight years in prison after accepting plea deals from prosecutors in two criminal cases.
Christine Staples, 38, 435 Oxford St., Indianapolis, who faced eight drug-related charges in two unrelated Hancock County court cases, recently was sentenced to eight years in an Indiana Department of Correction facility and 10 years on probation.
She’s been ordered to enroll in a drug-treatment program while in prison, court records show.
Staples was arrested in January on charges in two separate drug-related investigations. In the first case, filed in early January, she was accused of selling meth to a confidential informant two times between November and December, and a warrant was issued for her arrest, court records state.
On Jan. 18, police caught up to Staples. She was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy after he noticed she didn’t use a turn signal as she changed lanes on State Street in Greenfield, court records state.
After learning Staples had a warrant for her arrest, the deputy searched the vehicle. He found a baggie full of meth inside a Burger King sack, a syringe and a glass pipe, among other paraphernalia, according to a court document. As Staples was being booked into the Hancock County Jail, officials found two more baggies of meth in her pockets, court records state.
In the first case, Staples was charged with one Level 2 felony count of dealing methamphetamine; one Level 3 felony count of dealing methamphetamine; one Level 4 felony count of possession of methamphetamine; one Level 5 felony count of possession of methamphetamine; and one Level 5 felony count of corrupt business influence.
In May, she agreed to plead guilty to dealing methamphetamine as a Level 2 felony and corrupt business influence. The other charges were dropped as part of a deal with prosecutors, who opted to settle the cases against Staples at the same time.
On the same day she was sentenced in the first case, she accepted a second deal from prosecutors and pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, a Level 3 felony, and unlawful possession of a syringe, a Level 6 felony. A charge of dealing methamphetamine as a Level 2 felony was dismissed, court documents show.
