BEDFORD – A Bloomington man was sentenced to prison after he violated the terms of his probation on Thursday, November 16.
Lawrence County Superior Court II Judge Robert Cline sentenced 45-year-old Anthony W. Hardy, to 860 days in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Hardy was arrested on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, after Bedford Police officers responded to a home in the 500 block of N Street after a report a woman was passed out in a black Nissan.
When police arrived they found 31-year-old Sherelle Lawson, of Bloomington, in the driver seat and Hardy in the front passenger seat. Both were passed out. When an officer shined his flashlight in the vehicle both abruptly lifted their heads.
Police said Lawson appeared to be lethargic while answering questions, and her pupils were extremely dilated.
The officer noted in his report that Lawson kept her purse close to her on her lap while speaking with police. When asked if there were any illegal narcotics in the vehicle, police said she began to hold the top of the purse shut.
Both were then asked to exit the vehicle.
Canine Maximus conducted an exterior search of the vehicle and alerted officers to the presence of narcotics. Officers then began a probable cause search of the vehicle. Inside Lawson’s purse, police found a plastic bag containing four grams of crystal meth, a used syringe, a cellophane wrapper containing 30 Alprazolam pills, and a metallic smoking device used to ingest marijuana.
As an officer was detaining Hardy he noticed that Hardy was clutching onto an item concealed within his jacket sleeve with one of his fingers. That item was a baggie containing crystal meth. As Hardy was being placed in handcuffs he jerked to the right and grabbed the baggie of meth and put it in his mouth and attempted to swallow it. He was taken to the ground and braced while an officer removed the baggie from his mouth. Hardy continued to forcibly resist and sustained an injury to his mouth causing him to bleed. An officer suffered a laceration to his right hand.
After the struggle, Hardy was transported to IU Health Bedford for medical treatment due to his injuries. The crystal meth in the baggie that Hardy attempted to swallow weighed approximately 5.0 grams including packaging.
While finishing a search of the vehicle, officers located several other syringes and two glass smoking devices containing a burnt residue that field tested positive for marijuana. Officers later located two more Alprazolam pills within Hardy’s property that were retrieved from his pockets, as well as two additional syringes.
Additionally, during the search officers located several different forms of identification from various different people, including state identification cards, social security cards, birth certificates, and a passport.
Lawson and Hardy were transported to jail on charges of possession of meth, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Hardy also faced the charge of resisting arrest.
Hardy pleaded guilty to charges of possession of meth and resisting arrest. The other charges were dropped in a negotiated plea deal. He was sentenced by Judge Cline on March 23, 2023, to 910 days in jail with 862 days suspended and placed on supervised probation for 545 days. He was to participate in the ADAPT program and serve 40 hours of community service or road crew. He was also ordered to obtain his HSE (or GED), complete the Intro to Local Jobs and Skills Course, and pay $300 to ADAPT and court costs in the amount of $385. He agreed to have those things completed by August 15, 2023.
After failing to complete the terms of his probation, a warrant was issued for his arrest on April 27, 2023.
On November 16, 2023, Judge Cline sentenced Hardy to serve 860 days in the Indiana Department of Correction.
