Matthew Herron
A local man with a lengthy criminal record has been sentenced to serve more than 15 years in prison.
Matthew B. Herron, 41, of 6096 E. Pioneer Place, was also ordered by Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin to pay more than $1,500 in court fees and restitution.
Herron had four open criminal cases all originating in 2020 when he appeared at his court hearing Thursday.
The longest individual sentence came from a case alleging four felonies related to the dealing and delivery of methamphetamine on April 27, 2020. But as part of a plea agreement, Herron admitted his guilt to only one charge: Aiding in dealing in methamphetamine as a Level 3 felony. All other charges were dropped in that case and the remaining count resulted in 12 years in prison for the defendant.
In the second matter stemming from an attempted break-in of a storage facility on Old Indianapolis Road, Herron received an additional two years and three months in prison. While charges of criminal trespassing and possession of paraphernalia were dropped, Herron received additional time behind bars after pleading guilty to attempted burglary as a Level 5 felony.
In the third case from June 1, 2020, four Level 6 felonies were filed: Resisting law enforcement, possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine, counterfeiting and reckless driving in a highway work zone. However, all charges were dropped in the third case except for resisting law enforcement as a Level 6 felony. That gave Herron an additional year behind bars.
Charges were dropped in a fourth case that originated in November 2020.
Benjamin noted Herron had violated terms of a home detention connected with a high-profile case from 2002. Herron was charged with shaking his 3-month-old infant daughter so hard the infant suffered permanent brain injuries.
Three months after his 2005 trial resulted in a hung jury and he was awaiting a new trial, Herron was taken into custody for leaving his residence while on home detention, as well as missing an appointment with his parole officer.
Herron agreed in 2006 to plead guilty to battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a child under age 14. Although he received a 20-year prison term, court officials said at the time they expected Herron to be released much earlier due to the four years he had already served in jail, as well as for good behavior.
During her sentencing, Benjamin noted Herron had accumulated four prior convictions and continued with serious criminal activity while out on bond, Benjamin stated.
The comment refers to a June 1, 2020, police chase Herron initiated that began near the intersection of 11th and Chestnut streets – and ended on East 25th Street just west of Petersville. During the pursuit, Herron disregarded several stop signs and traffic signals, as well as drove into oncoming traffic, according t o police.
The judge told Herron he “failed to show mercy to the community” during that pursuit.
Only two mitigating circumstances were cited by Benjamin. One is that he did enter guilty pleas on some of the charges, and the other was his completion of an evidence-based addiction treatment program at the Bartholomew County Jail.
Benjamin said she will recommend that Herron be placed in a clinically appropriate substance abuse program while in prison.
Herron told the judge he has no intention of appealing the sentence.
