Greenfield man sentenced for drug crimes

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Ricky Johnson By Kristy Deer | Daily Reporter

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GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man who took part in an undercover drug purchase with the Greenfield Police Department last year will go to prison for two years.

Ricky Lee Johnson Jr. 46, Greenfield, was given a term of four years in the Indiana Department of Correction by Judge Scott Sirk in Hancock County Circuit Court. Johnson will serve two years in prison and two years on probation for a Level 5 felony count of dealing methamphetamine.

A Level 6 felony count of possession of methamphetamine was dropped as part of the plea agreement with the Hancock County prosecutor’s office. The sentencing was Thursday, Oct. 24.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Johnson was arrested and charged after he sold methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement official sometime between April 1 and April 30, 2018.

Prior to the sentencing, deputy prosecutor David Thornburg reminded the court Johnson had been given an opportunity in the past to get his life back on track through the county’s drug court program.

Sirk told Johnson there are two kinds of people who participate in the drug court program: those who take it seriously and those who seek only to avoid prison. Johnson admitted he did not take the program seriously, he said prior to the sentencing.

Johnson’s issues are not over. He was arrested and charged with four other drug crimes on Feb. 21. That arrest came as part of an incident in which GPD officers had to use a Taser to get Johnson under control after they tried to arrest him on a felony warrant. When Johnson was arrested, officers found three plastic bags containing a crystalline substance that tested positive as methamphetamine.

Johnson is facing Level 6 felony charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of a narcotic drug, as well as two misdemeanor charges for resisting law enforcement and possession of paraphernalia. Those charges are set for a plea agreement and sentencing hearing on Nov. 21 in Hancock County Superior Court 2 in front of Judge Dan Marshall.