GREENFIELD — A teen who pleaded guilty to dealing a narcotic drug won’t serve any prison time.
Elizabeth Bishop, 19, 4762 Vernon Ave., Indianapolis, pleaded guilty this week to dealing a narcotic drug, a Level 5 felony, and three other drug-related charges.
Bishop was stopped in McCordsville by police earlier this year for failing to use a turn signal. When police searched her car, they found drugs and paraphernalia, court records state.
Hancock Superior 1 Judge Terry Snow sentenced Bishop to four years. She’ll spend one year on home detention, one year in the county’s work release program and two years on probation.
As part of the deal she made with prosecutors, the six other charges she faced were dropped.
Probation officers recommended the teen serve time on probation rather than in prison.
The teen’s defense attorney, Robert Elsea of Greenfield, argued his client is an addict, and she’s not fit for prison.
A traffic stop in McCordsville landed the Indianapolis teen in jail on drug-dealing charges after officers said she was carrying an array of drugs along with dozens of plastic baggies used to package narcotics, according to court documents.
Officers said they smelled marijuana coming from Bishop’s car during the August traffic stop. They searched the teen and her vehicle and found drugs and various paraphernalia in the car and in the girl’s pockets, court documents state.
Small bags containing heroin, methamphetamine and pills that were later identified as Amphetamine — a stimulant registered as a schedule 2 controlled substance — were confiscated from Bishop, along with the remains of two marijuana cigarettes found inside the center console of the car, court documents state.
In one of the teen’s pockets, officers found 35 small, clear plastic baggies, and each had a green dollar sign printed on it, according to court documents. Baggies marked like that are used when packaging and selling drugs, police said.
In the teen’s car, police found a marijuana grinder and a digital scale, similar to one police said a dealer would use to weigh illegal substances before sale, court documents state.
She was arrested and charged with 10 counts: two Level 5 felony counts of dealing a narcotic drug; two Level 6 felony counts of possession of a narcotic drug; one Level 6 felony count of dealing a schedule 2 controlled substance; one Level 6 felony count of maintaining a common nuisance; one Class A misdemeanor of possession of a controlled substance; one Class A misdemeanor of possession of marijuana; and one Class C misdemeanor of possession of paraphernalia.
On Thursday, Bishop appeared in court to plead guilty to four of those counts, including dealing. The other charges she pleaded guilty to are possession of a narcotic drug and maintaining a common nuisance, both Level 6 felonies, and possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor.
The Level 5 and Level 6 felony counts Bishop pleaded guilty to carry maximum penalties of six years and 2.5 years, respectively.
Snow said he considered her age when deciding against the state’s recommendation to send her to prison, saying he believes the teen can be rehabbed.
“You’re getting a break up front,” he told Bishop. “Don’t expect another one.”
