<p>A man who was convicted of breaking into a Franklin home and robbing and tying up the elderly homeowners had his sentence reduced by 20 years after the court of appeals ordered that one of his charges be changed.</p><p>Reese Keith, 30, was sentenced to 42 years in prison after an appeals court overturned his charge, ruling that a burglary charge be reduced from the more serious Level 1 to a Level 3 Felony. A Level 3 felony has different sentencing ranges than a Level 1 felony.</p><p>The Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled Keith did not commit a burglary resulting in serious bodily injury, because the damage caused was to victim and homeowner’s Clayton Dixon’s mind, not his physical well-being, and asked that the burglary conviction be dropped to a Level 3 felony from a Level 1, court documents said. Dixon’s Alzheimer’s dementia deteriorated rapidly after he and his wife were robbed and taped to a chair and walker, and a neurologist testified about how trauma can cause an injury to the brain and a person’s mental state.</p><p>Superior Court 2 Judge Peter Nugent sentenced Keith to 15 years on the reduced charge and added a habitual enhancement of an additional 15 years. He received 12 years each on charge of robbery with a deadly weapon, two charges of criminal confinement with a deadly weapon and robbery resulting in bodily injury. He received two years for auto theft. Some of the sentences run concurrently, and in total he was sentenced to 42 years. He has served more than two years already.</p><p>Keith was originally sentenced to 62 years in prison, although prosecutors at the original sentencing had asked that he receive the maximum sentence of 112 years.</p><p>The court of appeals made the ruling on June 20, and Keith was re-sentenced on Thursday on the lower felony charge.</p><p>Keith was convicted in a bench trial last year of the six felony charges, along with being a habitual offender, in the May 2017 robbery of the Franklin couple, who were tied up, robbed and left in their home until they could break free and call police.</p><p>Police said Keith left Johnson Memorial Hospital after being taken there for treatment following a hit-and-run crash, which he was initially in police custody for, and then broke into Ella and Clayton Dixon’s home about a block away, where he slept in their car and broke into their home while they were running errands.</p><p>When they returned home, he taped the woman to her walker and bound the man to his chair and held them at gunpoint using a weapon he had taken from their home. He took their cash and left in their car.</p><p>Clayton Dixon had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia in August 2016. His symptoms had been stabilized with medication. But after the crime, his actions immediately changed with him first becoming withdrawn, then aggressive. He became so confused that he was taken to a psychiatric hospital for a month, then moved to an assisted living facility until he died in April, according to court documents.</p><p>A neurologist testified that the crime had caused “acute insult to the brain,” and that the mind deterioration from the disease is more gradual than what happened to Clayton Dixon.</p><p>Keith appealed his 62-year sentence, according to court documents, claiming that he did not commit a burglary resulting in serious bodily injury, that his convictions for robbery, criminal confinement and auto theft are barred by the state’s continuous crime doctrine, that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted evidence garnered from his police interviews and that the court abused its discretion when the sentenced him.</p><p>The court did not find any issues with Keith’s other four appeals, including that he was high on methamphetamine and disoriented when he confessed to the crimes, according to court documents. Plenty of evidence, including his physical abilities and sound reasoning during that initial interview, proves he was aware of what he was saying, court documents said.</p><p>Johnson County Deputy Prosecutor Megan Smither argued on Thursday that Clayton Dixon’s injuries should be considered an aggravating factor in the sentencing.</p><p>Keith spoke at his re-sentencing hearing and told Nugent that he was on drugs when the crimes were committed and that he is not the same person now that he is clean. He apologized for his actions.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I really truly am,” Keith said.</p><p>Nugent sentenced Keith to 15 years on the reduced charge, with the maximum for a Level 3 being 16 years.</p><p>“Actions have consequences,” Nugent said. “It is that simple.”</p>
