Three men who were facing criminal charges in Johnson County courts have been sentenced for battery, drug possession and drug dealing, respectively.
The Daily Journal has previously reported about these cases, and is sharing this update to give resolution to our earlier reporting on crime in the community.
Greenwood man sentenced after racially-motivated fight
A man was sentenced to four years in prison after jury a found him guilty of three charges relating to a December 2020 altercation at a Greenwood restaurant.
Joshua Leffew, 28, of Greenwood, was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of battery causing serious bodily injury, a Level 5 felony; battery resulting in injury, a Class A misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor, in Johnson County Circuit Court on Oct. 3. Three years of his sentence will be executed in a correctional facility, with one year suspended to probation. He also received a 21-day jail credit, online court records show.
During a two-day jury trial last month, he was found not guilty of intimidation, as a Level 5 Felony. Before the trial began, a misdemeanor count of battery causing serious bodily injury was dismissed.
On Dec. 4, 2020, Greenwood Police were called to a bar in the 1200 block of U.S. 31 following a reported altercation between two groups of people. Leffew and another individual, identified as Joel A. Saxton, 31, of Greenwood, walked past a group of four people, including two white males, a white female and a Black male, sitting together in the restaurant as they were leaving, the probable cause affidavit says.
The group told Greenwood Police Leffew and another man allegedly began hurling racial epithets at them, including calling the Black male the N-word and the rest of the group N-word lovers. They said the men also allegedly chanted “white power” and made an arm salute associated with white supremacist groups such as the Nazis.
The group told police they were angry about the epithets and the female approached him and one of the men allegedly hit her and knocked her to the ground. When two of her friends tried to assist her, those people were allegedly hit by Leffew and Sexton, the affidavit says.
Before they departed the group said Leffew told the group “I’ll get my gun. Do you want to get shot?” Leffew and Sexton then went to Leffew’s truck and one of them fired a gun one time. Greenwood police found a single shell casing at the scene that matches a Glock handgun owned by Leffew, the affidavit says.
They then left the scene in Leffew’s truck and were located shortly after that by Greenwood police, the affidavit says.
Robert Alden, an Indianapolis attorney representing Leffew and Sexton, said Leffew was “portrayed as something he is not,” but did not comment further when asked for a comment on the trial last month.
Indy man to serve 10 years for on drug, resisting police charges
An Indianapolis man who was arrested on drug charges following a pursuit in White River Township was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Eric D. McNeal, 42, pled guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of possession of a narcotic drug as both a Level 3 and Level 4 felony; resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony; possession of a controlled substance, a Level 6 felony; and misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and possession of marijuana in Johnson County Circuit Court on Oct. 3.
All 10 years of the sentence will be executed, with McNeal receiving a 267-day jail credit. His license was also suspended for 180 days, according to online court records.
On Jan. 10, Greenwood police were sitting in a parking lot near the intersection of U.S. 31 and Meadow Drive when they saw a car drive by without the correct lighting. Police then attempted to pull over the car near U.S. 31 and County Line Road before the car sped up and turned west onto County Line Road, according to a Greenwood Police Department report.
Police pursued the car heading westbound. where the car turned south onto State Road 37 from County Line Road. The car went south on the northbound lanes, disregarding a red stoplight on SR 37, and was eventually stopped near the 700 block of North Bluff Road, the report says.
The driver, later identified as McNeal, got out of the car and later told officers he did not realize they were behind him because he was on the phone with his girlfriend. Police say a smell of alcohol was coming from his person, and say his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. His speech was also slurred, the report says.
When police approached McNeal’s vehicle, they smelled a marijuana odor, the report says.
Police searched the car and found a small black plastic container that contained suspected narcotics. Officers later determined there were 24.5 grams of heroin and five grams of ecstasy in the container. They also found 3.5 grams of marijuana and 7.5 grams of a white powder later determined to be cocaine, according to the report.
McNeal told police he did not know what the narcotics were, nor that they were in his car. When police asked him if he had consumed alcohol, he said he had a couple of drinks, the report said.
Police gave McNeal a portable breath test which showed he had a preliminary blood alcohol level of 0.098, over the legal limit, the report says.
McNeal also consented to a blood draw to test his blood. On the way to take the blood test at a local hospital, he named to police the drugs that were found in his car, contradicting his earlier statement, according to the report.
Edinburgh man to spend 12 years on probation for meth dealing
An Edinburgh man will spend nearly 12 years on probation after he pled guilty to dealing methamphetamine.
Toby Dean Mullis, 53, pled guilty to dealing methamphetamine, a Level 3 felony, in Johnson County Superior Court 2 on Sept. 21. He was sentenced the same day to 12 years in an Indiana Department of Correction facility with two days executed in prison, according to online court records.
Nearly all 12 years of his sentence were suspended to probation, with Mullis being required to spend three years of his sentence in treatment. He was also ordered to pay $90 in restitution to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, online court records show.
Mullis was one of 33 people targeted during the Operation Hocus Pocus drug roundup in 2019. As part of the operation, police fanned out across an area stretching from Greenwood to Franklin to Edinburgh, going into Columbus and Indianapolis as well, to serve 33 warrants on charges related to dealing methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs on Oct. 31, 2019.
With Mullis now having been sentenced, only five people have outstanding cases or warrants from the operation. Garcia Madison and Kevin D. Pierce have cases pending, while Jeremy Kidwell, Dante Townsend and Terrence Wade are still wanted on outstanding warrants.
