Pair pleads guilty to lesser charges, sentenced to work-release

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GREENFIELD — Two people suspected of dealing methamphetamine had eight felonies between them dropped after lab tests found the drug police provided was not meth.

Nicholas Brinson, 28, no address listed, and Bria Newberry, 29, whose address is listed as Harbor Light Transitional Housing in Indianapolis, instead pleaded guilty this week to maintaining a common nuisance, a Level 6 felony. Brinson also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a syringe, a Level 6 felony.

Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton said when officers tested the drugs on scene, they came back positive for methamphetamine. But once the substances found in the house and car were tested at the state’s lab, they didn’t test positive for methamphetamine or any other controlled substance, Eaton said.

As a result, those charges were dropped, Eaton said.

The charges dismissed in their cases were: dealing methamphetamine, a Level 2 felony; possession of methamphetamine, a Level 3 felony, possession of a narcotic drug, a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a Class C misdemeanor.

Brinson was sentenced to serve about 1.5 years on work release and was given credit for 173 days he already spent in jail. Newberry was sentenced to serve two years, which were suspended, court records show.

Newberry will complete a drug program at The Salvation Army Harbor Light transitional housing, and Brinson will apply to be part of a drug program there, records show.

The pair were among five people arrested last September after police found drugs and paraphernalia in a car and an apartment they were in in Fortville, charging documents state.

On Sept. 8, police in Fortville spotted a parked vehicle in the 100 block of North McCarty Street. Two males in the car — Brinson and Cody Nicholas of Greenfield — were acting suspiciously, charging documents state.

Police approached the car and began talking with the men, who acted extremely nervous, documents state.

Officers asked them to get out of the car and spotted a white round tablet sitting in the front passenger seat, according to charging documents. When they asked the men what the pill was, they said it was a cold tablet, court documents state.

Police also saw a spoon with what appeared to be drug residue on it, according to records.

When they searched the car, police found three syringes and a clear plastic baggie filled with heroin, charging documents state.

They arrested the men, but Brinson told officers he needed them to take him by his home so he could get his glasses and a pair of shoes, court records state.

When Brinson went inside the apartment on Church Street in Fortville, police saw a syringe on the kitchen table, charging documents state. They also found a bong, a set of scales and other drug paraphernalia, court records state. They also found about 110 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, documents state.

Newberry and Brinson were both arrested and charged with dealing methamphetamine and a series of other drug-related charges. Two other people in the home were also arrested at the time. Theirs cases, as well as Nicholas’ case, were closed in 2017, court records state.