Pending drug dealing cases were set to be resolved this week for 4 individuals who were arrested as part of the drug raid known as Operation Double Trouble.
Operation Double Trouble was executed in June of last year and was the second raid completed as a joint effort between the Dubois County Prosecutor’s Office and the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department.
In total, 18 individuals were served with arrest warrants in 2 rounds of arrests for drug dealing charges in Dubois and Spencer Counties.
This past Tuesday, 34-year old Jarredd Byrd of Jasper, entered a plea agreement in which heagreed to plead guilty to Dealing in a Narcotic Drug as a Level 4 felony. The agreement calls for Byrd’s sentence to be left to the discretion of the Court, however, it will be capped at 8 years executed at the Indiana Department of Correction.
On Wednesday, 58-year old Jeffrey Friede of Linton, was sentenced in accordance with a plea agreement that he entered into on February 2nd.
Under that agreement, Friede pled guilty to Dealing in Methamphetamine as a Level 4 felony. The agreement called for him to be sentenced to 10 years executed at the Indiana Department of Correction.
Also Wednesday, 27-year old Matthew Cronin of Tell City, was set to be sentenced in accordance with a plea agreement that he also entered into on February 2nd. Under that agreement, Cronin pled guilty to Dealing in Methamphetamine as a Level 5 felony. The agreement called for him to be sentenced to 4 years executed at the Indiana Department of Correction. However, Cronin failed to appear at Wednesday’s hearing and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Matthew Cronin should contact the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department.
Finally, the case against 26-year old Gavin Matheis of Celestine, was also resolved on Wednesday. He entered into a plea agreement that day which called for him to plead guilty to Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance as a Level 5 felony, as well as to Possession of Paraphernalia as a Class A misdemeanor and Possession of Marijuana as a Class B misdemeanor in a case stemming from items found in his possession on the date of his arrest on June 4th.
The plea agreement called for the sentence to be left to the discretion of Judge McConell. In Matheis’s case, the Dubois County Prosecutor’s Office requested that the judge impose a sentence of 4 years executed at the Indiana Department of Correction on the dealing case, given Mr. Matheis’s history and the facts of the case.
The Prosecutor’s Office asked that the Court merely impose a fine and court costs in Matheis’s paraphernalia and marijuana case.
The Dubois County Probation Department recommended that the Court sentence Matheis to serve a total sentence of 4 years on both cases, with sentence being served on a combination of Work Release, Level 1 Adult Day Reporting, and Supervised Probation.
McConnell, however, chose to sentence Matheis to a more lenient sentence of 1 year on Level 1 Adult Day Reporting, followed by 1 year of Supervised Probation in his dealing case.
In the paraphernalia and marijuana case McConnell chose to sentence Matheis to 1 year of Supervised Probation consecutive to his dealing case.
Thus far, 14 of the 17 Dubois County Operation Double Trouble cases have been resolved, resulting in sentences totaling 69 years, with 40 years of jail time.
