GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man has agreed to serve a seven-year sentence after admitting he sold methamphetamine in Hancock County — a crime for which he served time in prison once before.
Shawn Elkins, 46, of Greenfield, pleaded guilty to dealing methamphetamine and corrupt business influence, both Level 5 felonies, as part of a plea deal, according to court documents.
He’ll serve four years in an Indiana Department of Corrections facility followed by three years on probation, records show. Prosecutors dropped a Level 6 felony count of possession of meth that Elkins had also faced.
The remnants of a meth lab discovered inside a Greenfield home earlier this year led city police to Elkins — a man local investigators caught and sent to prison for dealing drugs once before, officials said.
Elkins ran one of the first meth labs found in Hancock County, police say, and he served seven years in a state facility after he pleaded guilty to drug-dealing charges in 2004.
In March, officers found equipment typically used to make meth inside a Greenfield home near where Elkins was living. They investigated and later used a confidential informant to purchase drugs from the man, police said.
Neighbors called 911 after seeing someone using a flashlight to peek in the windows of a home in the 200 block of west Walnut Street in late March. Officers who responded to the area discovered an open door at 207 Walnut St. — a home they later determined was Elkins’.
While checking to make sure no one had burglarized the home, police found equipment used to manufacture meth, officials said.
Members from the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Team responded to the area and examined the equipment and found that a white powdery substance on it tested positive for meth, police said.
Greenfield detectives launched a more in-depth investigation from there. Once they had identified Elkins, they arranged to have someone go undercover and buy drugs from him, police said.
Elkins was arrested in May and charged with three felonies related to drug-dealing.
During this second stint in prison, Elkins will be required to participate in the Purposeful Incarceration program, which helps prisoners overcome their addictions while earning days off their sentence for time served with good behavior, records show.
Once Elkins is released from prison, he’ll be required to remain substance-free as part of his probation. When he returns to Hancock County, he’ll undergo an alcohol- and drug-use assessment that probation officers will use to create a treatment program for him, records show.