Lucas
A Franklin man who was arrested in a 2021 drug raid was sentenced to four years in prison last week.
Gerry A. Lucas, 35, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison, with a jail credit of 305 days, in Johnson County Superior Court 2 on June 29. He was charged in May 2021 with dealing meth, a Level 5 felony, and unlawful possession of a syringe, a Level 6 felony. As part of Lucas’ plea agreement, the unlawful possession of a syringe charge was dismissed.
The from his case sentence will run concurrently to a 13-year sentence he received the same day for a separate drug case, according to online court records.
Lucas was arrested during a drug raid in May 2021 after Franklin police received multiple complaints of drug activity at a home on the 600 block of Overstreet Street. On May 4, 2021, police secured a search warrant for the home, and executed the warrant that evening. Lucas lived at the home along with three other people, who also were arrested during the raid, along with two visitors at the home, according to police records.
Corey F. Barnett, 42, of Franklin; Bethanie E. Zellars, 37, of Franklin; Levi R. Baber, 24, of Lizton; Bailey Q. Abrams, 20, of Monrovia; and Ammon P. Sturgeon, 38, of Franklin were arrested during the raid and later charged.
When police arrived to execute the warrant, they saw a white Lincoln parked outside the house and witnessed a man leave the vehicle and go inside the house. A woman identified as Abrams remained in the car and was monitored during the search of the house, according to a Franklin Police Department report.
Police announced their presence and waited about 30 seconds for a response before attempting entry. As police prepared to force their way inside, Zellers, who owns the house, answered the door and came outside, the report says.
Officers entered the house and asked four individuals inside to come outside, the report says. All of them complied.
Barnett tried to escape out the back door, but police caught him. He gave them a fake name when police first apprehended him, but later told them who he really was, according to the report.
Baber was allegedly at the house to sell a gram of heroin to Zellers. The transaction had not been carried out as Baber had just arrived, the report says.
Baber initially denied he had been at the house to sell drugs, but admitted it after police discovered he had drugs in his underwear. Police had found 2.5 grams of heroin, a half gram of methamphetamine and a suboxone pill on him, according to the report.
In the house, officers found methamphetamine and a smoking pipe on a table between two beds where Sturgeon and Lucas sleep. Those drugs were identified as Sturgeon’s. Police also found marijuana, a smoking pipe and syringes in Lucas’s possessions, the report says.
They also found heroin, a used syringe and a suboxone pill in the bedroom that Barnett and Zellers share, all of which were Zellers’s, according to the report.
Police found methadone, a smoking pipe and syringes during a search of Abrams’s car, according to the report.
Additionally, a pouch containing plastic baggies containing meth and one bar of Xanax, along with a smoking device, were said to be Barnett’s. However, Barnett told police he — not Zellers — should take the dealing charge and claimed ownership of the dealing materials found inside the pouch, the report says.
Several cases stemming from the drug bust are still ongoing.
Baber was charged with felony counts of dealing a narcotic drug, meth possession and unlawful possession of a syringe, along with a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance. A warrant for his arrest was issued on Feb. 9 of this year after his bond was revoked. The warrant remains outstanding, online court records show.
Barnett was was charged in May 2021 with meth possession, a Level 5 felony; identity deception, a Level 6 felony; and possession of Paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. He was scheduled to appear in court for a sentencing hearing on June 30, however, he did not appear. A warrant for his arrest was issued following the hearing, according to online court records.
Abrams was charged in Franklin City Court with unlawful possession of a syringe, a misdemeanor. Her case is pending and a hearing is scheduled for July 18, online court records show.
The two remaining cases from the drug raid have been resolved.
Zellars was charged with dealing meth, possession of a narcotic drug and unlawful possession of a syringe, all felonies. She pleaded guilty to dealing meth, and was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison with a jail credit of 168 days in October 2021. The two remaining charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, according to online court records.
Sturgeon was charged with meth possession and unlawful possession of a syringe, both felonies. He pleaded guilty to the meth possession charge and was sentenced in October 2021 to 366 days in jail, with the sentence suspended to probation. The unlawful possession of a syringe charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, according to online court records.
