Inmate sentenced for trafficking

RUSHVILLE, Ind. (Rushville Republican) - A Greensboro man has been sentenced on a charge of trafficking with an inmate, 24-Hour News 8’s news partner the Rushville Republican reports.

Jeremy C. Searcy was found guilty Tuesday of trafficking with an inmate, a Class C felony, according to Rush County Prosecutor Phil Caviness.

Searcy was sentenced in keeping with terms of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors. He was given an eight year sentence to the Indiana Department of Correction.

"Under the terms of the plea, Searcy will serve seven years and then be placed on one year of probation," Caviness said. "At his sentencing hearing, Searcy admitted that while he was in the Rush County Jail awaiting trial on a possession of stolen property charge, he knowingly received suboxone, a controlled substance, in the mail from his then girlfriend, Brandi Logan."

In July, Logan pleaded guilty for her role in the case. She received a two year sentence.

Caviness said in April jail officers were received tips from inmates that illegal drugs were being sent to inmates at the jail in sealed envelopes.

"Rush County Sheriff's Department officers watched the mail and witnessed Searcy sucking on a piece of an envelope he had received in the mail. Searcy, who had been incarcerated since December 2011, later tested positive for the controlled substance," he said.

The Rush County Sheriff's Department then tracked the mail back to Brandi Logan.

Logan confessed to sending suboxone strips to the jail at Searcy's request.

"Eight years is the maximum sentence for this charge, and it is important to let everyone know that any attempts to bring contraband, especially drugs, into our jail will be dealt with severely" he said. "The jail does a great job preventing this sort of thing, and it was the strip form of this drug that made it possible to conceal in the seal of the envelope. I don't think anyone will try it again, and if they do, I am confident they will be caught," Caviness concluded.