Three men who were facing criminal charges in Johnson County courts have pled guilty and been sentenced for crimes including battery, possession of child pornography and drug trafficking.
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.
Man who battered security sentenced
An Indianapolis man who assaulted first responders and Greenwood Park Mall security will serve less than a year in jail.
Aaron M. Swarts, 24, pleaded guilty to two counts of battery as a Level 6 felony and one
count of resisting law enforcement as a misdemeanor before Johnson County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Roesener on Dec. 5. He was sentenced the same day to 590 days in jail, and received a 295-day jail credit, according to online court records.
A second misdemeanor charge of resisting law enforcement was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, online court records show.
Police were called to the mall last February after security said they needed help making Swarts leave after the mall closed. When mall security asked him to leave, he became unruly, yelled at a mall security officer and tried to hit him, according to court documents.
Mall security radioed Greenwood police for backup. When the mall security officer stopped responding, police believed he was in serious danger and additional units responded, court documents say.
A Greenwood officer traveling north on U.S. 31 noticed Swarts running westbound through the mall parking fleeing the scene. He ran across U.S. 31 on foot, and when officers tried to apprehend him, he pushed away from them and resisted their attempts to make him move toward a patrol car, court documents say.
Swarts became aggressive when officers tried to handcuff him, tackling a security officer to the ground and causing a Greenwood officer to fall. He punched the security officer in the face several times, court documents say.
Officers tried to get Swarts off the security officer, but he continued to attack him, court documents say.
Greenwood police warned Swarts he was going to be tasered if he did not stop. Swarts did not respond, and after some time, police lifted his jacket and tasered him. Swarts rolled off the security officer and onto his back, according to court documents.
However, he then made moves toward the security officer again, and officers continued to use the taser on him until backup arrived, court documents show.
Officers Swarts and observed alcohol on his breath. When emergency medical personnel arrived to check on Swarts and ask him questions about his health, he spit on a firefighter, court documents say.
One-year sentence for child porn
A Greenwood man was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to downloading pornographic images of children from the internet last month.
James Ray Doan, 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography, a
Level 6 felony, before Senior Judge K. Mark Loyd in Johnson County Superior Court 3 on Dec. 7. He was sentenced the same day to one year in the Johnson County jail for both charges, according to court documents.
Doan was arrested following a Greenwood police investigation of the sharing of child pornography on file-sharing networks in 2021. Police found portions of a pornographic video depicting a child, and later connected to a Greenwood-area IP address, court documents say.
They later obtained a search warrant for a Greenwood home in March and seized several items. They spoke with Doan, who told police he was the only one to use computers in the home. He had two computers and numerous high-capacity hard drives for his photography business, according to court documents.
He told police he built his own computers, and that he was familiar with file-sharing networks, but not the ones officers had found child pornography on. He also said he had not downloaded any child pornography, court documents said.
Police began to examine the items seized, however, due to the sheer number of items that needed to be investigated, the process took several months. Several devices contained child exploitation material, or deleted material, court documents said.
During the search, police found artifacts that contradicted Doan’s claims that he did not know what the file-sharing networks were that police were investigating. Police found several internet searches relating to using a file-sharing utility for the networks. They also found that a similar program was installed on Doan’s computer, according to court documents.
Several files on the computer showed that while the files were deleted, there were several files that had names associated with child pornography. Police also found several pornographic images with children on one of the external hard drives seized, court documents said.
Indy man sentenced for drug trafficking
An Indianapolis man arrested on drug trafficking charges following a 2022 traffic stop in Bargersville will serve 10 years in prison.
Torrez Melilk Esco, 24, pleaded guilty to dealing in a narcotic drug and dealing in a
Schedule II controlled substance, both Level 6 felonies, before Senior Judge K. Mark Loyd in Johnson County Superior Court 3 on Dec. 8. He was sentenced the same day to 17.5 years in prison, and is expected to serve 10 years of the sentence, according to the sentencing order.
About 7.5 years will be suspended to probation. The sentence is also expected to be served consecutively to charges filed in Hancock County, online court records show.
Esco, along with his brother Tavon, were arrested in January 2022 after a traffic stop on State Road 37 near Smith Valley Road. They were allegedly in a car going 84 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone, according to court documents.
During the traffic stop, officers thought the occupants were acting strangely so they requested a K9 unit from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office come to the scene to investigate. The K9 detected drugs in the car, officials said at the time
During a search of the car, police found a lockbox in the trunk with a clear bag containing brown powder. Police conducted a field test on the powder, which showed it was positive for heroin, and later determined it weighed about 158 grams. They also found a pill bottle containing 303 pills which were labeled as Oxycodone, court documents say.
The keys to the lockbox were found on Esco, court documents say. Police said at the time they believed the drugs were headed toward Bloomington.
