A local man who was facing four felony cases, including three counts of drug dealing, has been sentenced in Bartholomew Circuit Court.
Ivan Hendrickson, Jr., 41, of 803½ California St., was ordered Thursday to serve 22 years with the Indiana Department of Correction by Judge Kelly Benjamin. The sentence comes after Hendrickson pleaded guilty on Jan. 26 to one count of dealing in methamphetamine as a Level 2 felony.
Originally, the defendant was charged with two counts of selling the same type of illegal narcotic. The first exchange, which involved a police confidential informant, took place on Dec. 10, 2018, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Electronic monitoring and surveillance equipment recorded the exchange when Hendrickson received $300 in exchange for about 10 grams of methamphetamine, court records stated.
As part of a plea agreement, an identical charge of dealing in methamphetamine that reportedly occurred nine days later was dropped, court officials said.
Also dismissed were four felony counts that were all part of the second case against the defendant.
Those charges were filed in connection with a February 2019 incident involving two female inmates, Kristen Hunter and Breanna Meier, who used body cavities to smuggle drugs into the Bartholomew County Jail, investigators said.
Hendrickson was one of four people taken into custody in the aftermath of the investigation, according to Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies.
Dismissed charges in that case include dealing in a narcotic drug, conspiracy to commit dealing in a narcotic drug, conspiracy to commit trafficking with an inmate, and possession of a narcotic drug.
A request from the prosecution that Hendrickson be declared an habitual criminal offender was also dropped.
Benjamin did sentence Hendrickson to an additional six months in the third case for operating a motor vehicle after forfeiture of his license for life. However, the judge ordered the six months be served on probation. The fourth case, which also involved illegal driving, was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Hendrickson did receive credit for the year he has already spent in jail.
