Woman pleads guilty to dealing drugs in front of child

A Franklin woman will spend a year on home detention and multiple years of probation after she dealt drugs in front of a child.

Hannah Cearing pleaded guilty in January to charges of dealing a schedule III controlled substance in the presence of a child, a level 4 felony, and dealing a schedule III controlled substance, a level 5 felony.

Johnson County Circuit Court Judge Andy Roesener accepted the plea agreement and also sentenced Cearing to six years on the level 4 dealing charge, with one on home detention/GPS monitoring and the other five suspended to probation. On the level 5 dealing charge, she received a three year sentence, with one year of home detention and two years probation. The sentences will run concurrent.

The plea agreement specified that Cearing would plead guilty to both counts of dealing, said Joe Villanueva, Johnson County prosecutor. 

Cearing must also pay $80 in restitution to the Franklin Police Department for money used in the drug deal, Villanueva said. 

Both charges stem from a week in August 2019 when she dealt pain pills on two separate occasions.

Police gathered evidence that Cearing sold pills twice in August. A child witnessed the deal on one occasion, according to court documents.

Franklin detectives began an investigation after receiving a tip that Cearing may be selling drugs in the presence of a child.