JACKSON CO. – In May of 2022, Lawrence County Prosecutor Samuel C. Arp II was chosen to be a special prosecutor in Jackson County drug arrest.
Defendant Matthew Thompson was charged with dealing methamphetamine as a Level 2 felony and was also charged as being a habitual offender.
On July 19, 2023, Thompson entered into a plea agreement that was written by Prosecutor Arp. Thompson agreed to plead guilty to dealing in methamphetamine as a Level 2 felony.
On August 22, 2023, Thompson was sentenced by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge the Defendant Richard Poynter to 18 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections. Judge Poynter ordered 12 years of the sentence will be served at the Indiana Department of Corrections and six years was suspended to probation.
“Prosecutors from different counties will help each other out when a conflict arises in their office, agreeing to accept special appointments to save local tax dollars and in this specific case, the defendant’s activities could have easily reached into the Lawrence County area since he resided in the Medora area,’ added Arp.
Arp commended the law enforcement efforts by the Indiana State Police and the Medora Police
Department.
Thompson was arrested in August 2022 after police seized 19 grams of meth, a set of digital scales, and marijuana from his home on East First Street in Medora. Thompson has a lengthy criminal history, including several felony charges filed against him for meth.
