Two warrants have been out for the arrest of a man accused of dealing methamphetamine who didn't bother to show up at his own jury trial in November and was a no-show at a pretrial conference in another drug case. He was taken into custody late Tuesday night when LPD officers responded to a domestic disturbance. Officers reported he was in possession of more meth and marijuana and now he has three drug cases pending against him.

Warren Earl Johnson, 42, Linton, formerly from Jasonville, was arrested by Officer Alan Jackson of the Linton Police Department late Tuesday, May 17.

LPD officers were dispatched at 10:27 PM on Tuesday, May 17, to a room at the Park Inn in Linton after someone staying at the Inn reported a domestic disturbance. When Officer Jackson arrived, he talked to the caller who reported the disturbance saying it shook the television in her room which was next door.

When Officer Jackson knocked on the door where the disturbance was reportedly taking place, a woman answered the door, provided her identification and said she was getting ready to leave because she and the man in the room, who was in the shower at that time, were having words and they were going their separate ways. She confirmed there was yelling going on and she apologized. She denied any physical fighting. She gathered up the rest of her things and left the room but was asked to stop and wait at one of the patrol vehicles to speak to an officer.

The man in the shower turned out to be Warren Earl Johnson who gave his name as Warren Johnson but he allegedly gave the wrong date of birth. In time, Linton Dispatch and the officers were able to identify Johnson and determined he had two warrants out for his arrest in Greene County.

With Officer Jackson and Officer Janzen Franklin in the room with Johnson as he got a cigarette out of a duffel bag, he was asked for consent to look through the duffel bag for weapons or anything illegal. He gave consent and Officer Franklin found a glass vial containing a white powder substance that later tested positive for methamphetamine. In addition, he found a zip baggie containing burnt marijuana cigarettes and half of an unidentified pill.

Johnson also gave his consent to search another bag in the room saying it contained weed. In this bag, officers reported finding a vial containing orange pills and blue pills, another zip bag containing a white crystal substance that later field tested for methamphetamine, three zip bags containing green plant material, a plastic container containing two bags containing small paper squares which Johnson later said were supposed to be LSD but they were not, three more zip bags containing white crystal substances and one containing a brown substance which also field tested positive for methamphetamine, a cut straw and a zip bag containing multiple smaller zip bags. Johnson allegedly admitted the pills were alprazolam which is a controlled substance.

In addition to LPD officers, Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Coy assisted on the scene.

Johnson was transported to the Greene County Sheriff's Department where he was booked into the Greene County jail at 11:57 PM. He was held without bond pending court appearance.

A new criminal case was filed against Johnson yesterday - Thursday and he appeared in Greene Superior Court yesterday for his initial hearing via video connection between the jail and the courtroom.

During the hearing, his bond was set at $25,000 surety with 10% cash allowed and he was charged with:

• Possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony,

• Possession of a controlled substance, a Class A misdemeanor, and

• Possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.

This new case now makes three drug cases that are pending against Johnson in Greene Superior Court. In both the other two cases, there were warrants out for Johnson's arrest.

In one of these cases he was charged in April of 2021 with:

• Possession of methamphetamine a level 5 felony, and

• Possession of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor.

His bond was set at $50,000 surety with 10% cash allowed. After several attempts to get his bond reduced, all denied by the court, he posted $5000 and was released.

But this spring, on April 19, he failed to appear at a pretrial conference and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Now that he's in custody, that pretrial conference has been rescheduled for June 27.

The other case pending against him is a bit more complicated to explain. Johnson was living in Jasonville when he was arrested in mid-April of 2021 following an investigation by the Greene County Drug Task Force. The court record shows his bond was set at $50,000 surety with 10% cash allowed and motions for bond reductions were denied. In early August 2021, he posted $5000 cash and was released.

In this case, Johnson was charged with:

• Dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 5 felony, and

• Dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony.

This case was set to go to trial in November of 2021 but a mistrial was declared when there were not enough prospective jurors to fill all of the seats on the jury. The trial was rescheduled for early April.

On April 7 when the trial began with jury selection, Johnson was a no-show. The defense asked for a continuance but the prosecution objected saying the defendant knew the day and time the jury trial was to begin and he still failed to appear. The court agreed and found he did knowingly and voluntarily fail to appear for his own jury trial. The continuance was denied, a warrant was issued for Johnson's arrest, and the trial went on as scheduled.

Twelve jurors were seated along with two alternates and the prosecution and defense gave their opening statements. The next day, Johnson still failed to appear while the prosecution presented evidence and the defense rested its case. After deliberations, the jury returned verdicts of guilty on both counts.

Now that Johnson is in custody, a sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 14.

For background information, the earlier story about these cases is posted below.

Story posted on GreeneStreets on April 13, 2021:

Suspected meth dealers jailed after weekend bust by Greene County Drug Task Force

After an ongoing investigation by the Greene County Drug Task Force into a methamphetamine dealing operation, numerous officers arrived at the home of a Jasonville man and woman last Saturday to serve a warrant. When they both appeared in court earlier today, his bond was set at a total of $100,000 with ten percent cash allowed.  

Warren Earl Johnson, 41, and Kassandra Dawn Henderson, 35, both of Jasonville, were taken into custody last Saturday night. Johnson was booked into the Greene County Jail at 10:53 p.m. Saturday, April 10, by Jasonville Police Officer Skylar Scott. Henderson was booked in at 1:33 a.m. Sunday, April 11, by an investigator from the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office.

Johnson has been suspected of dealing methamphetamine for some time and has been under investigation all year, resulting in witness, audio and video evidence of specific transactions that allegedly took place as far back as January at Johnson’s residence.

Henderson is Johnson’s girlfriend and he lives with her at a residence in Jasonville.

Based on evidence gathered earlier this year, the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office filed a criminal case against Johnson in mid-March and a warrant for Johnson’s arrest was issued, under seal, on preliminary charges of dealing in methamphetamine - a Level 5 felony, and dealing in methamphetamine - a Level 4 felony.

The warrant remained outstanding for a while, until officers arrived at the Jasonville residence last Saturday, April 10, to serve the arrest warrant on Johnson. But when they arrived and approached the residence, officers reported they were able to smell the odor of marijuana coming from inside the residence. Those present at the residence included Johnson, Henderson, a juvenile child and an aggressive pit bull. The animal was secured and everyone exited the residence which was then secured while officers applied for a search warrant for the residence.

Johnson was taken into custody on the warrant and transported to jail by JPD Officer Scott who reported Johnson had over $1,000 in his pocket and over $200 in his wallet when he was booked in.

When the search warrant was approved then executed, officers reported finding a plastic bag containing a white crystal substance on Henderson’s side of the bed in a bedroom. The substance field-tested positive as methamphetamine. In that area, they also found a jewelry box with a set of digital scales with residue and $15 cash along with Henderson’s wallet with her ID card and $2,760 in cash.

On Johnson’s side of the bed, officers reported finding a .22 cal rifle, numerous Ziplock bags, a cup containing a white crystal substance that field-tested positive as methamphetamine and $2,099 in cash.

Other items found in the residence included a plastic bag with a white crystal substance and some pills taped to the back of a decorative wall hanging, plastic bags with green plant material that field-tested positive as marijuana, plastic bags with white residue and numerous items of paraphernalia.

According to an investigator from the prosecutor’s office, Henderson not only possessed methamphetamine with a firearm, possessed marijuana and possessed paraphernalia but she aided Johnson in dealing methamphetamine by providing a residence for the dealing to take place. The investigator also said they have evidence that Henderson participated in at least one transaction by providing paraphernalia to customers during the transaction. Furthermore, based on the large sums of cash found at the residence, both Johnson and Warren are believed to have benefitted from the sales of narcotics.

Following the search, Henderson was also taken into custody and booked into jail.

Both Johnson and Henderson were being held without bond pending court appearances.

Yesterday, based on evidence from the search, another criminal case was filed against Johnson as well as one against Henderson.

Both of them appeared in Greene Superior Court this morning, Tuesday, April 13, for their initial hearings, were formally charged and had public defenders appointed to represent them.

In addition to the two counts of felony meth dealing in the first case against Johnson, he was charged with possession of methamphetamine - a Level 5 felony, and possession of marijuana - a Class B misdemeanor, in the second case.

Henderson was charged with dealing in methamphetamine - a Level 5 felony, possession of methamphetamine - a Level 5 felony, and possession of marijuana - a Class B misdemeanor.

Henderson’s bond was set at $20,500 surety with ten percent cash allowed. As of late Tuesday, she had not yet posted bond and was still in jail.

Johnson’s bond was set at $50,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed in both cases for a total of $100,000 with ten percent cash allowed. As of late Tuesday, he had not yet posted bond and was still in jail.