Indianapolis man gets 12-year sentence

GREENCASTLE -- An Indianapolis man was sentenced recently in Putnam County Circuit Court to a 12-year sentence

Zikimo Jones, 32, was convicted of Class B felony dealing in a schedule I controlled substance. Judge Matthew Headley gave Jones a 12-year Indiana Department of Correction sentence with 8 years executed and four years on probation.

Jones was originally charged with two counts of Class B felony dealing in a controlled substance and one count of Class D felony possession of a controlled substance. One of the B felonies and the D felony were dropped as a result of a plea agreement struck between Jones and the state.

Jones could have received a maximum sentence of 20 years.

The charges against Jones stemmed from an April 27 incident in which he and Almez C. Bentley, 30, of Detroit were arrested during a traffic stop near Cloverdale.

Jones was the passenger in a vehicle Bentley was driving. Putnam County Sheriff's Department Lt. Dwight Simmons stopped the vehicle because he did not see a license plate displayed, according to court records.

When officers searched the vehicle, they found a significant quantity of the street drug ecstasy.

Motions to suppress evidence in Jones and Bentley's cases in August. Court documents said both men -- who are African-American -- felt they had been victims of racial profiling.

Attorneys for Jones and Bentley also said the vehicle was improperly searched and that any drugs found in it should not have been able to be admitted into evidence.

Headley denied the motions on Sept. 14.

Bentley pled guilty to the same charge as Jones. He was sentenced on Dec. 3 to six years at the IDOC with three years executed and three years suspended. He is listed on the IDOC Web site as central admin inbound, which means he is still in the Putnam County Jail awaiting transfer to a DOC facility.

Jones was unable to raise the $20,000 cash bond Headley set for him, and has been lodged at the Putnam County Jail since his arrest.

This is Jones' second Indiana prison sentence. In June 2004, he was convicted in Marion County of Class C felony possession of cocaine or a narcotic drug. He was released from prison on Nov. 26, 2007.