HANCOCK COUNTY — Two Indianapolis men charged with the same crime ended up with two very different sentences in Hancock County courts last week.
While one was sentenced to prison to start a four-year term, the other went to the Hancock County Jail to wait for a position in the county’s work release program, in which he’ll serve for three years.
Darnell Smith, 27; and Leroy Dontae Williams, 35, were both facing Level 4 felony charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. A Level 4 felony is punishable by up to 12 years in prison.
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Their different fates were due to the fact they have very different recent criminal backgrounds, probation officer Mary Kay Dobbs said. Dobbs compiled pre-sentence investigation reports on both men and made recommendations to the courts. Those recommendations were supported by prosecutors and defense attorneys.
There was a big difference in how the cases turned out, Dobbs said.
Smith, who fled police in March after he had just been released from prison three days earlier, was on parole for theft charges when police discovered he had a gun. Smith received a six-year sentence from Judge Terry Snow in Hancock County Superior Court 1, with four years to be spent in prison and two served on probation.
“This man had been supervised by either probation, parole, or the (Indiana Department of Correction) since 2010,” Dobbs said. “He failed in a case, which triggered his parole violation and sent him back to DOC. When he got out, three days later he committed the offense here… We saw the continuity of his criminal behavior.”
As part of a plea agreement, three other charges, including a Level 6 felony count of resisting law enforcement, were dismissed.
Williams, meanwhile, had been employed and meeting the terms of his parole before he was stopped for speeding while riding a motorcycle. When he was pulled over, police saw him toss a handgun into a field, court records show.
Prior to that parole violation and his arrest in September 2018, Williams had not been convicted of a crime since 2008, when he was charged with dealing cocaine.
“His problem was he did not turn his back on the people he was serving time with, and when you spend time with criminals, you’re going to commit criminal behavior,” Dobbs said.
Judge Scott Sirk of Hancock County Circuit Court warned Williams about his behavior prior to sentencing him to six years, with three years to be spent on work release and three years on probation. Sirk noted, despite some reservations, that he would accept the plea agreement because Williams had no violations over the previous year, is employed and has children to provide for.
“Williams’s history was not as extensive as in our previous case,” Dobbs said. “We saw a big gap in his bad behavior, so that shows us he will probably respond in a positive way.”
Should Williams commit a crime while on work release, he’ll be sent to prison to serve out the reminder of his six-year sentence.
In the end, both cases, Dobbs said, met her office’s three priorities.
“The community needs to be safe, and we also need to help the defendant get to a better place in their life, and do a punishment,” Dobbs said.
