A Kosciusko Circuit Court jury Wednesday found a Pierceton man guilty of dealing methamphetamine, after deliberating for less than an hour.
Robert Lee Pickens, 34, of 5505 CR 100S, Warsaw, was found guilty of Class B felony dealing methamphetamine, in connection with a Feb. 13 deal with Kosciusko County Drug Task Force officers in Leesburg. A Class B felony is punishable by six to 20 years in prison, per Indiana Code.
Pickens will be sentenced Nov. 17.
Around 9 p.m. Feb. 13, undercover Drug Task Force officers set up a staged buy with Pickens through a confidential informant, reportedly receiving just more than a half gram of powdered methamphetamine from Pickens for $80 before police moved in to make an arrest.
Pickens and another woman, who allegedly drove Pickens to the deal, were both arrested and charged with dealing methamphetamine. Pickens also was charged with possession of methamphetamine, though at trial’s conclusion Prosecutor Steven Hearn excused it, citing the charge likely would have been sentenced concurrent to the dealing charge anyhow.
During the two-day trial, Pickens’ defense attorney, Jay Rigdon, argued the case centered around three key areas: the confidential informant never should have been selected, the search of that informant was incomplete and flawed, and the undercover officers working surveillance during the buy never actually saw drugs and money being exchanged.
Rigdon said the informant, who Pickens said was a former lover now scorned and looking to hurt him, had motive to frame him for the crime. That informant denied ever having an affair with Pickens during testimony.
Rigdon then told the jury that the search of the informant and her minivan before she was sent to the deal by undercover drug police was spotty and opened the chance for the informant to plant the meth.
Finally, Rigdon argued the fact police only heard the transaction over a wire inside the informant’s purse and never actually saw it was grounds for doubt.
No so, the jury determined, finding the recording of the transaction – along with a prosecution-provided transcript – to be too damning to overlook. His admission during testimony that he was an admitted methamphetamine user likely was, as well.
Final argument concluded just before 2 p.m., and just before 3 p.m., the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
Following the conviction, Pickens pleaded guilty to a separate charge of being a habitual offender, which will see him sentenced to an additional 10 to 30 years for having two prior felony convictions on his record.
