Joshua J. Gossett
HANCOCK COUNTY — A Greenfield man, originally arrested in Dec. 2019 and charged with a felony count of possession of methamphetamine after a woman had overdosed at his residence, had his case settled in Hancock County Circuit Court Tuesday, Nov. 22.
Joshua J. Gossett, 41, 1000 block of W. New Road, was facing up to 12 years in prison for a Level 4 felony count of possession of methamphetamine, but after the acceptance of a plea agreement, the charge was lowered to a Level 6 felony count, a charge that carries up to two-and-a-half years.
Gossett was given a term of 448 days with 224 days of jail credit by Judge Scott Sirk during a sentencing hearing. The sentence is scheduled to run consecutive to a prior Level 6 felony charge, court records state.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officials were called to the 1600 block of W. New Rd Greenfield in Dec. 2019 on a drug overdose. That’s where officials from the Sheriff’s Department observed drug paraphernalia in plain view as well as methamphetamine.
Officials believed the drugs were in Gossett’s room, the affidavit said. However, Gossett told officials he was only at the residence to fix a vehicle and didn’t know anything about the drugs, including heroin, which officials believed caused the woman to overdose.
Officials searched a bedroom and collected a crystal powder from the glass table which tested positive for methamphetamine, multiple used syringes from under a bed comforter, and a bag containing multiple new syringes from between the mattress and box spring, the affidavit said.
Under the bed they found a bag which contained a box of 9mm FMJ, two handgun magazines and a silver handgun. The magazines fit the handgun, but the slide seemed to be locked in the forward position. When the gun was located, Gossett told officers that it was not functioning and it was his grandfather’s. This contradicted what Gossett previously had said — that the room was not his and that he did not reside there, the affidavit said.
Further inside the room, officials found Gossett’s social security card, birth certificate and Hoosier works card, the affidavit said.
Another man at the residence, Jeremy Kirk, was sentenced in August following the acceptance of a plea agreement. Kirk received a term of 1,460 days with 466 days credit and 994 days suspended to formal probation for a Level 4 felony possession of methamphetamine after officials found a crystal powder that field tested positive for methamphetamine as well as other drugs in his room at the house, the affidavit said.
Officials noted at the time, the amount of narcotics (greater than 10 grams of methamphetamine) is not commonly associated with someone who only uses narcotics.
