PRESS RELEASE
Serena Stuart has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years by Judge Tim Day in the Decatur Circuit Court for Dealing Methamphetamine, a Level 4 Felony. Three of those years were agreed to be served on home detention, and two more years were agreed to be on probation. The remaining seven years were open for the court to determine how they would be served. Judge Day ordered a final sentence of four years in prison, four years of home detention, and four years of probation.
Stuart was arrested as part of a long-term investigation into some of Decatur County’s oldest ties to dealing methamphetamine and other drugs. Detective Mark Naylor was the lead investigator, and he monitored the drug deal between Stuart and a confidential informant that ultimately formed the basis of the charges to which she pleaded guilty. During the sentencing hearing, Decatur County Prosecutor Nate Harter played the audio of the drug deal for Judge Day, in which children’s favorite “Moana” played in the background behind conversation with an evidently young female child present in the residence.
Stuart worked with her mother Rebecca, also sentenced for Dealing Methamphetamine, to distribute a quantity of methamphetamine to the confidential informant.
Prosecuting Attorney Nate Harter represented the State in this case. “I was appalled that this mother-daughter team was dealing methamphetamine with the child’s cartoons playing right there in the shared living space. The plea deal we fashioned gave Ms. Stuart some credit for beginning her path to recovery, but also gave Judge Day the ability to hold her accountable for pushing poison into our community.”
Decatur County Prosecuting Attorney Nate Harter wants to recognize law enforcement personnel for their hard work on this case, specifically lead investigator on the case Detective Mark Naylor.
Said Harter, “It’s one thing to be in the grips of addiction, to be a user. It’s different and morally worse to endanger your neighbors and friends by selling them poisons that will harm their bodies and souls. This is a distinction my office will continue to pursue in Decatur County.”