Drug offender allowed to enter treatment program
A Roachdale man who was supposed to appear in court Wednesday for a pretrial conference on a number of drug-related charges has been allowed to leave jail and enter a drug treatment program.
Charles W. McCarty II, 33, was to face charges of Class D felony possession of methamphetamine, class C misdemeanor operating while intoxicated and class A misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia, as well as a habitual offender designation. Additionally, those charges led to the revocation of probation, which McCarty was on as a result of July 2003 convictions on several charges, including dealing meth. At that time, he received a 20-year sentence with 14 years suspended and credit for 278 days served.
McCarty was released from prison in March. The violation of his probation could result in the reinstatement of any part of his suspended sentence.
Court documents said McCarty was found passed out and slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle at C.R. 600E and C.R. 675N in the early morning hours of Sept. 12 by Putnam County Sheriff's Department Deputy Craig Sibbett.
"Upon making contact with Charles I noticed a beer can in the front passenger seat and some makeshift hose with tape and fittings and a red gas can in the back seat area," Sibbett wrote in his narrative. "Due to my training and experience and knowing the past history of the subject being a methamphetamine user and manufacturer of the product, these were precursors to make methamphetamine."
McCarty "was very unstable and could hardly walk," Sibbett wrote. Sibbett called for a tow truck to take McCarty's vehicle away and for medical personnel to evaluate McCarty.
"Due to the condition of the subject that appeared to be high on methamphetamine and the precursors in plain view and knowing the history of the subject of being high risk, he was placed in handcuffs for my safety," Sibbett wrote.
At that point, court documents said, Sibbett conducted an inventory of McCarty's vehicle. That search turned up "a metal tin box that contained several baggies with a white crystal substance and three baggies with about one gram of the white crystal substance with the bags tied in a knot," Sibbett said. Also found were cotton swabs, a pipe, a small amount of copper sulfate, a plastic gas tank that had a strong odor of anhydrous ammonia and a coffee filter.
"The white crystal substance was later field tested positive to be methamphetamine," Sibbett said.
In late October, McCarty was evaluated by Monica Kaufman of Valle Vista Health Systems in Greenwood.
"Based on Mr. McCarty's long standing addictions to drugs and alcohol, multiple failed treatment attempts, limited sober support system and mental health issues, out medical director, Dr. Vicki Burdine, recommends that Mr. McCarty be admitted to our inpatient unit as soon as he can be released from jail," Kaufman said in a letter to McCarty's attorney, Sidney Tongret. "Our facility is a locked facility and provides 24-hour nursing care."
The order for McCarty's release to treatment was signed by Putnam County Superior Court Judge Robert Lowe.
McCarty has also served prison time for intimidation, theft, receiving stolen property, forgery, possession of a controlled substance, possession of cocaine or a narcotic drug, auto theft, receiving stolen auto parts and possession of precursors. The first record of him at the Indiana Department of Corrections Web site dates back to 1996.