It’s likely that a 72-year-old Lyons man was trying to help his son by giving him rides last spring. But when the Greene County Drug Task Force swooped in to bust the son, accusing him of getting rides to Indy to buy meth to sell in Greene County, the father wound up in jail too. On Tuesday, he accepted responsibility, admitted his role and was sentenced to home detention.

Clarence Wayne Adams of Lyons was 71 at time of his arrest on Tuesday, May 15. He’s now 72. He was taken into custody on the same day as his son, Jeffrey Ray Adams, 46 at the time, of Bloomfield, following an investigation by the Greene County Drug Task Force.

When they appeared in Greene Circuit Court for initial hearings, Jeff Adams was charged with dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony, and dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 5 felony. Clarence Adams was charged with dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony.

The investigations by the Task Force had yielded information that Jeff Adams had allegedly sold methamphetamine on multiple occasions last spring. At times, Jeff Adams was under surveillance and an officer reported Adams sold a quantity of methamphetamine in late April. They then received other information that Adams was traveling out-of-county to obtain methamphetamine that was being sold in Greene County, and that his father was providing him transportation on these trips.

Probable cause affidavits filed in these cases indicated officers believed in the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 15, Jeff Adams and Clarence Adams were returning to Greene County from one of these trips. After Clarence Adams dropped his son off in Bloomfield and was on his way home to Lyons, a traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle and Clarence Adams was questioned.

According to the affidavits, Clarence Adams admitted he had been driving his son on these trips for approximately one month and that he knew the trips were made with the intent to purchase methamphetamine. Clarence was taken into custody and booked in to the Greene County Jail around 11 a.m. that day.

As a result of the investigation and interview, a search warrant was promptly issued for the residence of Jeff Adams in Bloomfield and when executed, officers reported finding evidence. Jeff Adams was then also taken into custody and booked in to the Greene County Jail around 11:30 a.m. the same morning.

Bond for Clarence Adams was set at $15,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. After about 11 days in jail, he posted $1,500 cash and was released.

With Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw representing the state, and two defense attorneys from Terre Haute representing Clarence Adams, a negotiated plea agreement was reached in mid-September.

After the Greene County Probation Department completed a pre-sentence investigation report on Clarence Adams and he was evaluated for possible alternative sentencing by Greene County Community Corrections, Clarence Adams appeared before Judge Erik Allen in Greene Circuit Court on Tuesday morning, October 30, to change his plea and be sentenced.

In keeping with the terms of the agreement, Clarence Adams pled guilty to a lesser charge of conspiracy to commit dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 5 felony.

In pronouncing sentence, Judge Allen found one minimal aggravating factor - that Adams had a prior conviction for misdemeanor battery but it wasn’t drug-related and carried little weight.

The judge noted these mitigating factors:

Defendant has pled guilty and accepted responsibility for his actions and has cooperated with law enforcement throughout the case.
Defendant did not initially know of the criminal activity but did ultimately learn of the plan to purchase methamphetamine and provided transportation for his son after learning of the purpose. But defendant was not involved in the conspiracy other than providing transportation.
Defendant is likely to respond affirmatively to short-term incarceration and probation.
The character and attitude of defendant indicate that he is unlikely to commit another offense.

Clarence Adams was sentenced to two years with one year suspended, leaving him one year to serve. He was given credit for 11 days already served and he’s going to be able to serve his time on electronically-monitored home detention administered through the Greene County Community Corrections Program as long as he’s eligible. If he were to violate the requirements of the home detention program, then he would serve his time in the Indiana Department of Corrections.

After he completes the time, he’ll be on supervised probation for a period of two years.

Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw said Adams will be eligible to receive “good time” credit but since this is a Level 5 felony, he’s required to serve at least 75 percent of the time, which would be approximately nine months.

The case against Jeff Adams is still pending in Greene Circuit Court.