From Decatur County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Harter
Jewel Johnson was sentenced August 17 by Judge Tim Day in the Decatur Circuit Court, after pleading guilty to the crime of Level 2 Felony Dealing Methamphetamine and being an Habitual Offender. The parties entered a plea agreement giving Judge Day discretion within guidelines. The agreement was that the sentence would be forty years, and Judge Day could place the sentence in prison, on home detention, or on probation.
Argument was heard on both sides, and ultimately Judge Day sentenced Johnson to thirty years in prison and ten years of probation. Judge Day did allow Johnson to undergo the Recovery While Incarcerated program to begin to address her issues with substance abuse.
Prosecuting Attorney Nate Harter represented the State in this case. “Although I asked for thirty-five years to be in prison, I am satisfied with and grateful for the Court’s sentence here. Ms. Johnson has been delivering poison into our community for years. Dealing is different from addiction. It involves a conscious choice to add to another person’s misery. That choice requires high moral condemnation and an appropriately lengthy sanction.”
Johnson has a history of misdemeanor and felony convictions, including a prior dealing in methamphetamine out of Jackson County, as well as a history of failing probation. She was on probation at the time of this incident.
Decatur County Prosecuting Attorney Nate Harter wants to recognize Greensburg Detectives Mark Naylor, Mike Colson, Steve Barnes and John Albert, as well as Officer Jacob Mays and K9 Kato for the weeks of work it took to unravel this case and gather the evidence necessary to prove the charges.
Said Harter, “I have a great deal of sympathy for addicts who try to get their life turned around. That sympathy dissolves when a person crosses the threshold of dealing poison to others.”