HANCOCK COUNTY — Instead of facing several years in prison for kidnapping, a Fortville teen will spend an additional 126 days in the Hancock County Jail after a judge accepted a plea agreement.
Joshua Hammons, 19, was originally facing seven charges in all, including a Level 3 felony count of kidnapping while armed with a deadly weapon, and a Level 3 count of criminal confinement amid allegations he held a friend at gunpoint and recorded it on his cellphone.
The plea agreement, announced by Judge Terry Snow in Hancock County Superior Court 1 on Wednesday, calls for Hammons to serve 18 months on a Level 6 felony criminal confinement charge, and another 18 months on a Level 6 felony charge of kidnapping, for a total of 36 months and an additional 12 months on probation. Five remaining lesser charges were dismissed.
Hammons has been in jail for nearly eight months while his case made its way through the criminal justice system. He’ll get credit for time served along with credit for good behavior, meaning his sentence will be 126 days, his lawyer, John Merlau, said after the sentencing.
Merlau was hoping, because of his client’s age and willingness to accept responsibility for his actions, that the judge would allow Hammons to be released immediately. However, officials from the Hancock County prosecutor’s office noted, as did the judge, that there is a high level of recidivism surrounding the types of crimes Hammons was involved in.
Before the Judge handed down the sentence, Hammons told the court he’d learned from his mistakes and doesn’t want to go back to jail in the future.
“I don’t want to become one of the people that I see come back here,” Hammons said. “This has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life.”
Hammons was arrested and charged in July of 2018 after he forced a friend into his car in Charlottesville, drove him around, and then pointed a gun at him and ordered him to recite something, according to police reports. Hammons used his cellphone to make a video recording of the incident, the victim said.
Hammons let the victim go only after he promised to repay some money he owed Hammons, officials said at the time of the incident.
Hammons, an Eastern Hancock High School graduate, also told the court he planned to enroll in an anger management class once he’s released from jail to learn how better to handle his anger issues.
“I agree with the probation department, I do have some maturing to do,” Hammons said.
