Phares receives 3-year sentence

GREENCASTLE -- A Greencastle woman received a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to shoplifting from two stores.

Jessica Phares, 27, was convicted of one count of Class D felony theft and one count of Class D felony attempted theft, each punishable by a maximum of three years in prison.

Judge Matthew Headley sentenced Phares to three years at the Department of Correction with one year executed as a direct commitment to Putnam County Community Corrections and two years suspended, with credit for 76 days served in the Putnam County Jail and 36 days served on home detention, for each charge. The sentences will run concurrently.

Phares was arrested June 15, when court records said she stole several items from the Dollar General store at 507 N. Jackson St., Greencastle, and then attempted to steal more items from the Dollar General on the other side of town at 1520 Indianapolis Road.

Phares spent two-and-a-half months in jail before Headley approved a bond reduction and allowed Phares to be on house arrest while she awaited sentencing.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, a third Class D felony charge against Phares, possession of a controlled substance, was dropped.

Phares initially pled not guilty to all charges, and her bond was set at $5,000 cash.

Items Phares stole include blankets, a curling iron, a blow dryer and children's clothes. She was caught on a store surveillance tape walking out of the Jackson Street store with items she had not paid for, court records said.

Store managers contacted police, and Phares was apprehended at the Indianapolis Road store.