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Last updated on Sunday, June 10, 2012
(BLOOMFIELD) - The fifth and last co-defendant in a 2011 drug sting was sentenced Tuesday in Greene Circuit Court.
Nick Schneider, of the Greene County World reports, Robert Ashton, 36, of Clay City, was sentenced to 10 years in the Indiana Department of Correction with two years suspended for his guilty plea to Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance - a class B felony.
He was given credit for five days served in jail and placed on probation for two years after his release.
Ashton was also fined $50 plus court costs and was assessed a $200 drug interdiction fee and a $100 probation administrative fee. He will be required to complete an alcohol and substance abuse program.
Ashton was arrested in February 2011 along with Heaven L. Houldson, 20, of Linton; Brenda Goble, 62, Linton; Donald K. Forker, Jr., 28, of Jasonville: and Amy L. Collins, 38, of Jasonville in a drug bust carried out by the Greene County Drug Task Force.
Ashton was accused of selling seven Oxycodone pills for $100.
He allegedly was a passenger in a red Dodge truck when he accepted money from another individual at a convenience store. The truck then traveled to a residence in Linton and was met by another man, then the truck returned to the convenience store and delivered the pills to the buyer, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Jasonville Police Officer Ryan VanHorn.
In ordering his sentence, Superior Court Judge Dena Martin cited Ashton's extensive juvenile and adult criminal record as an aggravating circumstance.
His prior convictions included:
* Sept. 27, 1993 - two counts of theft as a juvenile.
* Dec. 2, 1997 - Dealing in a Schedule II or III Controlled Substance - a class B felony.
* Dec. 16, 2003 - Possession of methamphetamine - a class D felony.
As mitigating circumstances in the sentencing, the judge cited Ashton's guilty plea as accepting responsibility for his actions and his extensive medical problems.
Forker was originally charged with three counts of dealing in a Schedule II controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a public park, all as class A felonies, and one count of maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony.
He pleaded guilty to a single count of dealing within 1,000 feet of a public park on June 3, 2011 and was sentenced to 15 years in the DOC with three years suspended.
Forker's case is currently on appeal with the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Collins was charged with two counts of dealing in the controlled substance.
She also entered a guilty plea to a single dealing charge and was sentenced to 12 years in the DOC with four years suspended.
The couple sold morphine pills out of their home on Neal Street, a location which is approximately 850 feet from the Jasonville City Park.
Some of the alleged transactions were observed by officers who reported seeing children playing in the park while the transactions were taking place, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by LPD Det. Goodman.
Houldson, 20, of Linton, was charged with four counts of dealing in a Schedule IV controlled substance, all class C felonies, and two counts of dealing in marijuana, hash oil or hashish, both class A misdemeanors.
However, she entered a negotiated plea agreement to a single charge of Dealing a Schedule IV Controlled Substance - a class C felony- and was sentenced Sept. 16, 2011 to four years, with two suspended. Her sentence is being served on home detention through the Greene County Community Corrections system.
Houldson had been under investigation for months before the bust, according to the probable cause affidavit filed by LPD Det. Goodman.
She pleaded guilty to selling Clonazepam and Darvocet - both Schedule II controlled substances.
Goble had been charged with two counts of dealing in a Schedule II controlled substance, both as class B felonies. However, she entered a negotiated plea agreement to a single count of dealing and was sentence.
On July 26, 2011, Goble was sentenced to six years with the Greene County Community Corrections' home detention program.
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