Middletown man to serve sentence through drug court following plea deal

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Joshua A. Corbett

HANCOCK COUNTY — A Middletown man, Joshua A. Corbett, was facing seven charges in all, including a felony count of possession of a narcotic drug, a charge that carries up to 16 years in prison. His case was officially settled via a plea agreement in November where a lesser sentence was handed down and five other charges were dismissed.

Corbett, 36, 4000 block of U.S. 36, was originally charged in June 2021 with a Level 3 felony count of possession of a narcotic drug, two Level 6 felony counts of neglect of a dependant and operating a vehicle while intoxicated, three different Misdemeanor charges and one Class C infraction.

Court records show Corbett pleaded guilty to possession of a narcotic drug as a Level 5 felony and a Level 6 felony of neglect in Hancock County Superior Court 1 on Nov. 18. He was given 1,460 days, or four years, to be served at the Indiana Department of Corrections, with 1,280 days suspended to non-reporting probation pending his entry and successful completion of the Hancock County Drug Court Program. Corbett is to serve the 180 days executed on community corrections home detention through a transfer to Bartholomew County.

Corbett is also to comply with all recommendations and requirements of the program, which is two years in length. If he successfully completes the program, he’ll then serve two years on formal probation. If Corbett fails to complete the program he may be sentenced to any portion of the sentence that may be stayed or suspended.

He was also given a two-and-a-half-year term, 910 days to be served in the Hancock County Jail with everything suspended to non-reporting probation pending entry and successful completion of the drug court program. Counts 1 and 2 will run concurrent while the remaining charges were dismissed.

A woman identified as Vannessa Ann Knight, 32, Greenwood, who was with Corbett when he was arrested, had her case settled Thursday, June 30 in Hancock County Superior Court 1 in a plea deal as well. Knight admitted guilt to a Level 3 felony count of possession of a narcotic drug and a Level 6 felony count of a neglect.

She was given a six-year term for the Level 3 felony with all six years of the sentence suspended to formal probation. Knight received a two-year term for the Level 6 felony with both years also suspended to formal probation. According to the agreement, a Class C misdemeanor and a driving infraction charge were dropped as part of her deal.

According to a probable cause affidavit, officials from the McCordsville Police Department pulled over a vehicle in June, 2021 after observing erratic driving in the 5700 block of West Broadway.

Knight, a passenger in the vehicle, had her daughter in the back seat, the report said. The driver of the car, Corbett, was identified as Knight’s husband and showed he had a prior case of dealing a controlled substance.

Officials conducted a K-9 sniff of the vehicle, the affidavit said. Officers found two clear plastic bags containing a gray powdery substance which Knight was trying to destroy while seated inside the car, the report said.

Knight eventually told officials she and Corbett had just purchased illegal drugs, the report said. Corbett admitted to taking heroin earlier in the day, officials said in the report.