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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Ind. Courts - "Attorney's meth case ends in six-year prison sentence"
The ILB has had a number of entries on Teresa Perry, the young Evansville attorney charged with meth-related offenses.
Today reporter Kate Braser writes in a long story that begins:
As he pleaded with a judge to spare his client from jail time for her meth convictions, attorney Doug Walton said when he took the LSAT with Teresa Perry years ago, he never imagined he'd one day defend her in court."She was bright-eyed and pursuing her goal of becoming a lawyer," Walton said, describing his client as "truly remorseful."
After listening to more than an hour of arguments by attorneys, Vanderburgh Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman sentenced Perry to a total of six years in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Perry wept throughout the sentencing, as did many of the more than 20 people who crowded into the courtroom to support her.
Her pastor, the Rev. Jeffrey Stratton of American Baptist East Church, has been active in her recovery. During Tuesday's sentencing, he told Trockman he did not believe Perry should serve jail time.
"When my own brother was in the midst of his addiction, I testified in court that he needed prison time," Stratton said. "But I see this case as a success story. A tremendous amount of resources have been brought to bear, and that shouldn't be held against her."
Perry attended an inpatient treatment program and has continued recovery efforts through other local programs since her arrest.
The judge acknowledged that Perry, 34, a licensed attorney, has been proactive in her recovery, but he said evidence uncovered in the investigation pointed to Perry being more than an addict.
Perry was arrested in May 2007, accused of selling drugs to a police informant. Investigators discovered what they described as a meth lab inside her home in the 3300 block of Waggoner Avenue, near McGary Middle School.
She previously pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing in a controlled substance, a class B felony; two counts of dealing in methamphetamine, a class B felony; and possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony.
Her plea was open, meaning it was up to Trockman to determine her sentence.
Trockman said he considered that Perry was charged with a nonviolent crime, has no previous record, has engaged in voluntary treatment and is unlikely to reoffend.
However, Trockman said he was concerned that some of the drug-related activity took place at Perry's rental home near a school, and he did not believe the items found at her home and law office reflected her as merely an addict.
"And although you did not manufacture drugs in the traditional sense, you were processing them at your home and office to make them more pure," Trockman said.
"This leads me to the most troubling aspect of this crime. Ms. Perry is an addict, and may very well succeed, and we hope that she will, but addicts don't have to be as engaged in the drug culture as Ms. Perry was."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 28, 2008 10:31 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts