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Last updated on Thursday, May 24, 2012
(BLOOMFIELD) - A Bloomfield man, awaiting a jury trial in a drug-dealing case, and who was later arrested for methamphetamine possession in clothing stored at the jail, has signed a negotiated plea agreement.
Nick Schneider of the Greene County Daily World reports that Greene Superior Court Judge Dena Martin still has to approve the plea deal submitted on Tuesday morning for 47-year-old William Nickles Hutcherson.
The negotiated plea agreement was presented to the court during an initial hearing by video link from the Greene County Jail on a new drug possession case that was filed last Friday.
In that case, Hutcherson is alleged to have had methamphetamine in his clothing that was stored in the inmate property room at the jail.
Under terms of the plea agreement, Hutcherson agreed to plead guilty to possession of methamphetamine - a class D felony. If approved, he will be sentenced to two years (630 days) with the Indiana Department of Correction, with credit for 315 days already served in the Greene County Jail - meaning he could be eligible for parole in just over five months.
He was also fined $50 and ordered to pay at $200 drug interdiction fee.
In exchange for his guilty plea, all charges in another pending drug case would be dismissed, including: Dealing methamphetamine - a class B felony; possession of two or more chemical precursors with intent to manufacture a controlled substance - a class D felony; possession of methamphetamine - a class D felony; assisting a criminal - a class D felony; and possession of marijuana - a class A misdemeanor.
Hutcherson has two previous drug convictions - dealing a controlled substance in 2003 and possession of a controlled substance in 2008.
In the latest case, Greene County Sheriff's Department Det. Sgt. George Dallaire requested a sweep of the entire jail complex by Bloomfield Police Department K-9 Dristan and his handler, Deputy Town Marshal Harvey Holt on Oct. 21, 2011.
During the search, the K-9 hit on a personal property bag that contained Hutcherson's clothing. Inside the bag, police found a small black nylon bag in a pair of jean shorts.
The black bag contained a tied-off baggy containing a brown powder, two plastic baggies with a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana, a bag that contained numerous pills, a razor blade wrapped in brown paper, a cut-off straw and rolling papers, according to a probable cause affidavit file by Det. Dallaire.
The contents of the baggies were forwarded on to the Indiana State Police Lab in Evansville for analysis.
On Dec. 27, 2011, a forensic scientist working in the Drug Unit of the Indiana State Police lab, contacted Det. Dallaire and provided a certificate of analysis that stated the "brown powder" substance was methamphetamine. The green leafy material was marijuana and the pills were identified as controlled substances, according to the probable cause affidavit.
At the time of his arrest, Hutcherson was in jail awaiting a June 19 jury trial.
He had earlier filed a plea agreement motion on Dec. 12, 2011, however, on May 10 withdrew from his plea deal.
That case unfolded about midnight on July 22, 2011 when Bloomfield Deputy Marshal Jordan Allor initiated a traffic stop of Hutcherson's GMC Jimmy in an alley between John and Indiana streets in Bloomfield.
Deputy Allor had observed the vehicle travel left of center and missed a driveway.
The passenger in the vehicle was identified as Scott Stahl, 33, of rural Bloomfield, who was arrested at the scene on two warrants for various drug charges - including manufacturing methamphetamine - a class B felony.
Hutcherson told police that a "friend" had called him and asked him to pick up Stahl near the covered bridge, south of Bloomfield, leading to the assisting criminal charge.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hutcherson's vehicle was impounded and an inventory of the vehicle was conducted, which turned up a pouch that contained marijuana, a coffee filter that contained methamphetamine residue and a small silver spoon.
In the back seat, officers found a blue colored backpack that contained 11 syringes and green glass smoking pipe, a thermos bottle that contained anhydrous ammonia, coffee filters and a plastic cup with a lid that contained a white powder.
Hutcherson is also remembered as one of the so-called "dirty half dozen." In Oct. 8, 2008 jail employees uncovered letters that detailed a series of late-night clandestine meetings between male and female inmates that had been going on out of the view of security cameras.
The three male inmates, who were charged with escape, apparently made their way through the ceiling area, making contact with three female inmates that included sexual activity, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Det. George Dallaire.
However, the escape charges were later dropped against Hutcherson and the five other inmates in a ruling by Judge Martin because they didn't physically leave the lock-up facility.
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