An self-confessed member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang who begged a judge to give him drug treatment instead of jail learned he had worn out all his opportunities for additional chances in the Bartholomew County criminal justice system.
Jarred A. Parton, 27, who gave his address as 13500 N. U.S. 31 in Columbus, which is his girlfriend’s address, was sentenced Thursday to 921 days in the Indiana Department of Correction for possession of methamphetamine and an additional 921 days in state prison for failing to return to Community Corrections detention as ordered.
Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin credited Parton with 146 days served between July and December and ordered him to pay court costs and a public defender fee. That means Parton would serve five years and eight months, although he could be released after serving half of that time with good behavior.
Parton told the judge he intended to appeal the sentence.
Changes pending
Parton still faces two pending charges in Bartholomew Circuit Court, one relating to the Aryan Brotherhood. Parton testified that he continues to be a member of the group, despite a pending felony charge of criminal gang activity.
Parton was arrested in November on the felony criminal gang activity charge and misdemeanor battery after a year-long investigation into the Aryan Brotherhood by Bartholomew County law enforcement. He was one of nine people arrested on a variety of charges related to narcotics dealing, burglaries, and vehicle thefts and attempts to sneak drug contraband into the Bartholomew County Jail.
While in the local jail on those charges, just days after his arrest, Parton was charged with punching an inmate in the nose at the jail Nov. 15, resulting in the victim suffering a broken nose that will require surgery, Bartholomew County sheriff deputies said. Parton was then additionally charged with Level 5 felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury, according to court records.
Parton was later moved to an Indiana Department of Correction facility after the incident, while the victim was being held in the jail’s medical unit, according to court officials.
Alex Whitted received permission from the judge to withdraw as Parton’s court-appointed attorney on the two pending cases, citing a conflict of interest as he had previously represented the victim in the battery case.
Pattern of drug use
Parton’s sentence was pronounced after testimony from the defendant himself, his pregnant girlfriend Mary Craig, his mother Cynthia Gentry and Bradley Gentry, who said he considered himself as Parton’s father after taking on that role since the defendant was age 7.
All of them pleaded to Benjamin to give Parton inpatient drug treatment rather than jail, saying the defendant was a completely different person when not under the influence of narcotics.
Craig, who said she had known Parton for two years and is expecting his child this month, told Benjamin that the defendant could live with her as long as he didn’t use drugs. She told the judge she wanted Parton to be at the birth of their son and said it was hard to think about the baby’s milestones Parton will miss if incarcerated.
Craig, 22, also was charged in the Aryan Brotherhood roundup, accused in two separate cases.
In one, she is accused of felony trafficking with an inmate, felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, according to court records. In the second, she is accused of criminal gang activity, auto theft, maintaining a common nuisance, possession of marijuana, possession of methamphetamine and possession of paraphernalia, according to court records.
Parton’s mother said drugs have impacted Parton’s behavior and he does not come around his family when he is using drugs.
“Jarred needs help,” his mother said, pointing out that Bartholomew County says it wants to help addicts but instead keeps sending them to prison.
Bradley Gentry broke into tears while pleading with the judge to grant Parton drug treatment.
“All that prison has done is make him a better criminal,” he said.
Parton told the judge he began using marijuana at age 16 and was using methamphetamine by age 18. Gradually, he began using drugs more often and admitted to Benjamin that he has been a regular drug user for more than a decade, including use of heroin.
“Every decision I make is based on my drug use — how to get drugs and get high,” Parton told the judge.
Parton presented evidence that he had been accepted into transitional housing in Seymour, which Benjamin immediately countered that the program was not drug treatment per se and would not be considered.
The defendant had been placed multiple times on probation and was told to get a drug evaluation as part of that status, but Parton admitted he never went as instructed.
“I don’t like leaving my family and being stuck in jail,” Parton said. “I don’t like the person I’ve become because of my drug use.”
Parton explained the failure to return to Community Corrections resulted from his participation in work release, when he worked for about one week for a Walesboro factory on the assembly line with a friend taking him to and from work.
Parton said he started his shift at 4 a.m. each day and usually clocked out at about 2:30 p.m., but on Feb. 8 his ride back to Community Corrections did not arrive.
He testified that he knew he was already late and would be “locked down” by corrections officials for the offense, so he decided not to go back. Parton was arrested Feb. 19 by Columbus police at a gas station in the 400 block of South Gladstone Avenue, and officers found methamphetamine and marijuana inside his coat.
During the time from when he decided not to go back to Community Corrections and his arrest, he was using drugs — including heroin — every day, he said.
The defense also presented a certificate that showed Parton completed the Residents Encounter Christ program at the jail last spring and was baptized, but said he did not follow up on any counseling sessions or visits by volunteers who run the program.
“It made me want to do better, but I’m surrounded all day by people who all we talk about are drugs,” he said.
During testimony, Parton admitted to using drugs in the Bartholomew County Jail.
Missed opportunities
Before pronouncing the sentence, Benjamin noted that Parton had been offered treatment opportunities in 2010, 2012, twice in 2014 and in 2018, but never took advantage of those opportunities. She also noted that several jail infractions, including the accusation of the battery incident at the jail in November, occurred after the Residents Encounter Christ program.
Benjamin noted Parton has had 13 convictions, including nine misdemeanors and four felonies and has been placed on probation seven times.
To the comment that the justice system was only making Parton a better criminal, Benjamin said all the services Parton had been offered, including treatment, work release and other probation programs, can only do so much.
“It’s a two-way street,” Benjamin said. “The community comes together and tries to find ways to help you and make sure you don’t hurt others. We work hard to do that. But I can’t make you comply.”
Her comments continued.
“There has to be a motivation on your part to say ‘I’m worth it’ — not for your girlfriend or a child or anyone else — it has to be for you,” Benjamin told Parton, adding that although he said he felt he was worthless, she told him he was not.
She told Parton that Indiana’s correctional system has programming to help incarcerated addicts get help and it was up to him to avoid drug usage in prison and to participate and benefit from the programs.
“You are not worthless. You don’t have to get high,” she told Parton. “People could count on you if you decide to change. That’s on you.”
