Benjamin Jovan Staletovich
HANCOCK COUNTY — An Indianapolis man facing the possibility of decades in prison for felony drug crimes caught a break on his sentencing hearing last week.
Benjamin Jovan Staletovich, 29, 8000 block of Lawrence Woods Place, was originally charged with a Level 2 felony count of dealing a controlled substance, a Level 3 felony count of possession of a narcotic drug, two different Level 6 felony possession of drug charges and a Class A misdemeanor count of carrying a handgun without a license. The most serious charge against Staletovich carried up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
During a sentencing hearing June 16 in Hancock County Circuit Court, Staletovich’s plea agreement was accepted by Judge Scott Sirk who placed Staletovich in the Hancock County Drug Court program which he oversees.
The deal called for Staletovich to admit guilt to the Level 3 felony, a Level 6 felony charge of possession and the Class A misdemeanor gun charge. He was then given an 11-and-a-half-year term with two years to be served at the Indiana Department of Corrections and nine and a half years suspended. Seven of those years are to be spent on formal probation, court records state.
Staletovich’s deal, however, is contingent on his completion of the county’s Drug Court program, the agreement states. Any violations would send him to prison to serve out the remainder of his term. He was also given 550 days of jail credit due to having served that time while his case was pending.
Staletovich was originally charged for an incident in March of 2022 when he was stopped by an officer with the Fortville Police Department while traveling along Ind. 67. After pulling the car over, the officer encountered Staletovich and noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car he was in, a probable cause affidavit stated.
The officer secured the Staletovich outside of the car and noticed he had an empty holster on his shoulder, however it had two loaded magazines inside, the affidavit said. During a search of the vehicle, officials found a firearm that had a round in the chamber under the passenger side front seat, the affidavit said.
Inside the vehicle, officers found approximately 31 grams of a powdery substance that later tested positive for heroin, a prescription pill bottle with 21 pills identified as gabapentin (a medicine that treats seizures by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain), but the name on the bottle was not for any one in the vehicle, officials said in the report.
Officers also found eight grams of marijuana and a small digital scale on Staletovich, the report stated.
