01/16/14 Nathaniel White, 26, of Plymouth, was sentenced on Wednesday (January 15, 2014) in Marshall Superior Court 1 to ten years imprisonment for dealing in methamphetamine. The original charge was a Class A felony as it was alleged the dealing occurred within a thousand feet of a family housing complex. In open court, White admitted to dealing in methamphetamine on several occasions out of a residence on West Washington St., in Plymouth.
Judge Robert O. Bowen approved an agreement reached between Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Nelson Chipman and defense attorney Tom Black, which provided for a sentence at the Indiana Department of Corrections of 10 years of imprisonment on the charge of dealing in methamphetamine, as a Class B felony. The parties were free to argue if purposeful incarceration would be imposed, as no agreement was reached on that aspect of the sentence.
The case began when Jonathon Bryant, an officer with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and armed with a felony arrest warrant, together with other officers from the Sheriff’s Department and the Plymouth Police Department, went to a Washington St. address in Plymouth in search of James Corbett II. Upon approaching the front door, several individuals exited the residence and walked away at a quick pace. Officer Bryant asked if James Corbett was inside and it was stated he was upstairs. Bryant entered the premises and immediately went upstairs and was confronted with a large pit bull dog. The dog was restrained, and Corbett was arrested.
Corbett and his wife were advised of their constitutional rights and they then gave their consent to Officer Bryant to search the residence. The search revealed virtually every component necessary to construct a methamphetamine laboratory. In addition, seven “one pot” meth labs were located, one of which was still very active. Also located were six hydrochloric acid (HCL) generators which are used to force the precipitation of suspended methamphetamine in an organic solvent into usable methamphetamine powder.
Plymouth Police Officer John Weir was assisting with the service of the warrant and was stationed behind the residence. After Officer Bryant approached the front of the house, Nathaniel White and another individual came around the house and got into a pickup truck with White behind the steering wheel. White asked if they could leave and he was told he could since the warrant was for another individual. Before they left, however, Officer Bryant reported he had found marijuana and other contraband in plain view from the area just vacated by White and the other individual. As a result, the two were asked to exit the vehicle and sit on the back porch. Plymouth canine Jax walked around the truck and hit on the driver’s seat, indicating the smell of narcotics. White was searched, but nothing was found.
By this time, a consensual search of the house revealed numerous meth manufacturing related items. All of the individuals at the house, including White were taken to the Marshall County Jail for booking and processing on various charges. During that process, a routine body check revealed numerous methamphetamine related items in White’s anal cavity. According to Officer Weir, that is why his canine companion hit on the driver’s seat previously occupied by White.
Subsequent interviews conducted by Officer Bryant and others after the arrests revealed that methamphetamine was manufactured at the Washington St. address on an almost daily basis, and that the sale of meth to individuals was occurring four to five times a day from that location. That is no longer the case. “Jax deserves a medal. Or at least a treat,” Chipman noted.
