HANCOCK COUNTY — Instead of facing several years in prison for multiple drug crimes, a Greenfield man pleaded guilty to a lesser felony charge Wednesday.
In exchange, Eric Trusley said he’s willing to testify against his father-in-law, who is accused of running a marijuana trafficking operation in Marion County.
Trusley, 40, received a six-year sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction for a Level 5 felony charge of possession of methamphetamine, but he won’t go to prison. Trusley will instead be placed on home detention for three years and then will face three years of probation. As part of the agreement, he will have to pass drug tests and go through drug counseling.
Three other charges were dropped.
Sitting at the defense table Wednesday in Hancock County Superior Court 1, Trusley said little more than “yes” or “no” when answering Judge Terry Snow’s questions. Snow noted an official from the county’s probation department did not recommend the plea agreement.
In the end, Snow accepted the agreement, noting Trusely, who had a criminal record of robbery, hadn’t been in trouble with the law for 18 years prior to his drug arrest in March of 2019.
Officials from the prosecutor’s office offered no objection to the plea agreement. Deputy prosecutor Kevin Kelly said while Trusley was guilty of drug crimes, he was not the target of a police investigation that netted Trusley and his father-in-law.
Trusley was arrested on the same day in March when police raided the father-in-law’s home in Lawrence. That’s where officials found almost 200 pounds of marijuana, several weapons and $19,000 in cash.
Trusley attracted attention from local investigators when they learned he was coming and going from the residence in Indianapolis belonging to his father-in-law, John E. Myers, 60. Meyers is facing a Level 5 felony for dealing marijuana and a Class B misdemeanor of possession of marijuana. His case is set for a jury trail Nov. 20.
Investigators with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department had been watching Myers since the fall of 2018 after he came under suspicion of trafficking marijuana across the country from California to Michigan in a recreational vehicle, according to an affidavit.
Evidence was also provided to sheriff’s investigators that Trusley was selling drugs for his father-in-law, the affidavit said.
Trusley was stopped in Greenfield after leaving his father in-law’s house. Officers discovered what appeared to be a pipe used for smoking methamphetamine and a bag of a crystalline substance that field-tested positive as methamphetamine, an affidavit said.
