Civil trial bumps Lauderdale's sentencing

Friday, July 10, 2009

A new sentencing date has been set for an Indianapolis woman who attempted to pass drugs to an inmate at the Putnamville Correctional Facility.

Lynette Lauderdale, 22, was slated to be sentenced on July 2. Due to a civil jury trial that began July 1 and was expected to last several days, her sentencing was reset for July 16.

The charges against Lauderdale stem from a Jan. 4 incident in which she attempted to pass marijuana to inmate John Shirley while visiting with home at the Putnamville State Farm.

Shirley, who the Indiana Department of Correction Web site lists as having an earliest possible release date of April 27, 2013, is serving a an eight-year sentence in connection with a 2007 Marion County conviction for Class B felony possession of cocaine or narcotics.

On June 1, Lauderdale pled guilty to Class D felony attempting to traffic with an inmate outside a facility. On that same date, Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley took under advisement a plea agreement that would dismiss charges of Class C felony trafficking with an inmate and Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana against Lauderdale.

Court records said Lauderdale and Shirley share a 5-year-old son, and that she brought the boy along to the visit when she as arrested.

An affidavit of probable cause said Lauderdale slid a plastic bag or marijuana into a potato chip bag after she purchased the chips from a vending machine in the visiting area and emptied the chip bag. Then, court records said, she tried to give the bag to Shirley.

Lauderdale was arrested after DOC officers seized the chip bag. She posted 10 percent of a $10,000 bond on Jan. 7.

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