A man convicted late last year of felony theft made a deal to serve six months with one year and six months suspended. He was to report to the jail the day after sentencing but he was a no-show. A warrant was issued, outstanding until recently. Now he’s back in jail and when he appeared in court today, he was charged with another felony.

Justin David Rice, 36, Bloomington, has been wanted on a warrant issued for his arrest in late November of 2018. That warrant was outstanding until Monday, August 19, when he was booked back in to the Greene County Jail.

Rice was arrested in July of 2018 by Officer Debbie McDonald-Miller of the Linton Police Department following her investigation into a case of theft and fraudulent bank activity.

Rice allegedly deposited a fraudulent check written for over $1,600 then proceeded to write various checks on the account as well as make cash withdrawals at locations from Linton to Bloomington.

Rice was subsequently charged with theft where the value of the property was between $750 and $50,000, a Level 6 felony.

He posted bond and was released from jail while the case wound its way through the court system.

In October of 2018, a plea agreement was reached and during a hearing on November 29, 2018, he changed his plea to guilty. He was sentenced to two years in the county jail with all but six months suspended. He was given credit for three days served.

Det. Sgt. James O’Malley wrote that Rice was supposed to start serving his sentence the next day and was ordered to report to the jail by 4 p.m. He was a no-show and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The warrant has remained outstanding until his recent arrest on August 19.

After an investigation by Det. O’Malley, a new case has been filed against Rice and when he appeared in Greene Superior Court today, September 3, he was charged with failure to return to lawful detention, a Level 6 felony.

Besides the new charge, a hearing was scheduled in the theft case where he had made the deal for one and one-half years of his time to be suspended.