GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man was ordered to spend a decade in prison after a Hancock County jury found him guilty of dealing methamphetamine.
After hearing a single day of testimony and deliberating for fewer than 15 minutes, jurors convicted Christopher Beaty, 30, 7829 North Franklin St., Greenfield, of two felony counts and one misdemeanor. Beaty, who represented himself in the proceedings, appeared in Hancock Circuit Court for sentencing Friday, where Judge Richard Culver order he serve a 10-year sentence in an Indiana Department of Correction facility.
Beaty was arrested in January after police found him in a home on Mount Street in Greenfield, which they searched, suspecting drugs were being sold there, according to court documents.
Inside the home, officers found various drug paraphernalia, including a burnt spoon with heroin residue, glass pipes, marijuana grinders, bags containing crystal substances and notebooks that appeared have notes of drug sales, court documents state.
Officers searched Beaty’s cellphone and found messages that suggested he was selling meth, police said. Notes to contacts contained references to amounts of the drugs and various prices, court documents state.
In one message, Beaty asked a resident of the Mount Street home if he could come over one afternoon to use the man’s digital scale to weigh his drugs, according to court documents.
Beaty was charged with and later found guilty of one Level 4 felony count of dealing methamphetamine, one Level 6 felony count of possession of methamphetamine and one Class B misdemeanor of visiting a common nuisance.
At least two others were arrested following the incident on similar charges, court records show: Dakoda Williams, 27, 375 Mount St., Greenfield, has a case pending in Hancock Circuit Court; Weston Tucker was also arrested, but his case was later dismissed.
The officers who investigated the case testified during Beaty’s trial. Beaty maintained his innocence, saying he was a drug user but not a dealer, officials said.
But Prosecutor Dave Thornburg, who handled the case for the state, called Beaty’s characterization disingenuous.
During Friday’s hearing, he reminded Culver of the evidence presented at trial proving Beaty sold drugs, and he asked the judge to send Beaty to prison.
Beaty spoke briefly during Friday’s hearing. He told Culver that if he has to be sent to prison, he wants to participate in a Department of Correction program that gives drug users treatment options for their addictions as they serve their sentences.
Thornburg said he was thankful for hard work of the Hancock County sheriff’s deputies who investigated the case and pleased that Culver saw it fit to send Beaty to prison.
“We need to send a message to people that if they deal drugs in this county, they are going to be held accountable,” he said.