Six arrested on dealing charges
The three Dubois County narcotics officers have developed cases against several drug dealers in Dubois County; six were arrested recently.
Deputy John Anderson has been acting as a narcotics officer with the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department since 2012. In spring of 2018, he was joined by a narcotics detective with the Jasper Police Department as well as Huntingburg Police Department Narcotics Officer Rusty Drew. Last week these officers began serving arrest warrants for drug dealing charges that they jointly investigated.
In the past, the Dubois County Sheriff’s Department and the Dubois County Prosecutor’s Office collaborated to coordinate roundups with a large number of drug-dealing arrests. However, given the overcrowding issues at the Dubois County Security Center, the Prosecutor’s Office has been filing a smaller number of warrants at a time.
According to Beth Sermersheim, Dubois County Chief Deputy Prosecutor, even though they no longer are coordinating roundups, the public should not believe that the drug problem in Dubois County has gotten better.
“The drug problem in Dubois County has continuously gotten worse since we started with Operation Big Brother back in June of 2014,” she said. “However, that doesn’t mean that they’ve stopped pursuing the dealers. The three narcotics officers are participating in undercover drug buys with confidential informants and undercover police officers on a daily basis.”
She added that the narcotics officers are doing an outstanding job seeking out the major drug dealers in the community. The narcotics officers have been assisted by other officers in their respective departments, and they’ve also been assisted by the Indiana State Police.
As in prior drug operations, the informants used in the undercover drug buys are primarily developed through street-level arrests made by uniformed patrol officers and the narcotics officers.
Last week, officers began picking up individuals facing charges on these warrants. Additional arrests are expected in the coming days.
The following individuals are facing drug dealing charges as part of the latest string of arrests:
Sheldon Pasquino, 43, Jasper, Count 1: Dealing in a Narcotic Drug, a Level 2 felony, and Count 2: Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance, a Level 6 felony.
Adam R. Schnarr, 39, Huntingburg, Count 1: Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony.
Darrin E. Bouillon, 39, Jasper, Count 1: Dealing in a Narcotic Drug (Heroin), a Level 4 felony. Mr. Bouillon also has an additional dealing case for which he was arrested, Count 1: Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony, and Count 2: Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Level 5 felony.
Charles D. Morrison, 54, Jasper, Count 1: Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Level 3 felony. Mr. Morrison also has an additional drug dealing related case for which he was arrested, Count 1: Theft, a Class A misdemeanor.
Anthony T. Beckham, 44, Huntingburg, Count 1: Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony.
Juan C. Avalos, 34, Huntingburg, Count 1: Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Level 3 felony, and Count 2: Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony.
*The fact that a person has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GETTING THE DRUGS AND THE DEALERS OUT OF DUBOIS COUNTY.
Agree, at least for trying, but according to the deputy prosecutor’s statement the drug problem hasn’t improved, and apparently the limits on jail space (overcrowding) is in part restricting those efforts. What’s wrong with this scenario? Are we just wasting our time and taxpayer dollars (seems like)? Are we satisfied with simply breaking even? Don’t have the answer but it’s pretty discouraging. What IS a realistic, responsible solution (understand if multi-faceted but not pie-in-sky/easy)? Don’t know.
The best solution is to legalize all drugs and spend our resources on treatment. Sending people to jail only makes things worse do to an arrest record. Portugal is the model for this option. They did have an initial uptick in usage, but as time went on, usage dropped. Look what happened to alcohol during prohibition. Alcohol is a really bad drug, yet it is legal. Go figure.
I would like to know how much it costs to fly those helicopters looking for patches of Maryjane to burn, and how many arrests actually are made as a result. Indiana, surprisingly, was not the last state to legalize gamboling. The taxes are great!!! Marajuana is bringing in $$$ to half the more progressive states of this Union. I would pay money to take a helicopter tour. I do not like my taxes allowing others to tour while also on the payroll. Amazing !!!!!!!