Amanda Lynne Bennett, 38, New Palestine
HANCOCK COUNTY — A New Palestine woman who admitted to selling illegal drugs to Greenfield residents was sentenced for her crimes this week after a plea agreement was accepted in Hancock County Circuit Court by Judge Scott Sirk.
Amanda Lynne Bennett, 38, 2600 block of U.S. 52, was originally charged with a Level 2 felony count of dealing methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony count of possession of methamphetamine and a Class C misdemeanor count of possession of paraphernalia from an incident earlier this year on Feb. 23.
According to the plea agreement, which had been signed by all sides and accepted by Judge Sirk, Bennett had to admit guilt to count 1 of dealing methamphetamine, which was lowered to a Level 3 felony. The plea agreement states that Bennett was to get a nine-year term at the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) with two years served and seven years suspended to probation.
The plea agreement goes onto say as soon as the term at the IDOC is served, Bennett will be transported to the Hancock County Jail for a period of no more than 30 days. After that she will be released into a recovery residence that will have to be approved by the Hancock County Drug Court team. She will have to serve no less than 180 days at that facility, the agreement said.
Bennett will have to comply will all rules of the county’s drug court program which last for two years. If she fails the drug court program, the rest of her sentence could be served in prison.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Bennett was arrested when a sergeant with the Greenfield Police Department was called to check out a driver near I-70 and Ind. 9 Feb 23. The call stated that the driver crossed the yellow line and nearly hit another vehicle head-on, the affidavit said. The vehicle, a van, ended up going north on Fields Boulevard, and the officer found the vehicle stopped in a warehouse parking lot there.
When the sergeant asked Bennett to share her driver’s license, he noticed she was sitting oddly in the van. The sergeant then asked her if there was a reason why she was sitting the way she was and as soon as he asked he said she put her right hand in between her legs and covered her face with her left hand and arm. That’s when the sergeant said he saw a silver bag between her legs.
“I looked inside the vehicle to where she was looking and observed multiple clear plastic baggies with a white crystal-like substance sitting in between her legs that were between the silver bag and her upper inner thigh,” the sergeant said in the report.
The sergeant also found another clear plastic baggy with a crystal-like substance inside of the door handle once the door was opened, the affidavit said. The affidavit stated there was also a digital scale and multiple individual loose baggies in the center console. The sergeant noted he secured multiple baggies of crystal-like substance, one silver vial, one green vial, and a silver wallet with a glass-blown pipe used for narcotics.
The affidavit noted officials found one bag weighing approximately 8.80 grams, one bag weighing approximately 2.79 grams, one bag weighing approximately 4.44 grams, a green vial with crystal-like substance inside weighing approximately 1.01 grams, and a silver vial with crystal-like substance inside weighing approximately 2.30 grams, bringing the total weight to 19.34 grams.
During a conversation with law enforcement, Bennett admitted to both buying and selling methamphetamine, the affidavit said. She stated in the report that she buys around an ounce each week to try to sell to people in Greenfield.
