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Accused meth dealer files motion to dismiss

Saturday, November 15, 2008
By JAMIE BARRAND, Editor

A man charged with Class B felony dealing in methamphetamine filed a motion to dismiss his public defender just prior to his final pretrial conference Thursday.

Chad Buttery, 28, requested Melinda Jackman-Hanlin be removed from the case. The court approved his request and appointed public defender James Ensley to defend him.

A Class B felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Buttery is also facing a habitual offender designation, which could significantly increase any sentence he receives.

Buttery was arrested in the early morning hours of Oct. 3 after Greencastle Police Officer Chris Helmer stopped a vehicle Buttery was driving on Avenue E. Buttery fled from the stop on foot, court documents said, and Helmer was unable to catch him.

Helmer returned to the car Buttery had been driving and "detected a strong chemical odor within the vehicle," court documents said. A further search of the vehicle turned up enough possible precursors to convince Helmer the car was a rolling meth lab.

Buttery was located a short time later at a relative's house.

He entered a not guilty plea to the charge on Oct. 7. His bond was set at $30,000 cash, and his jury trial is slated to begin on Dec. 3.

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  • Mindy got fired again there is a real shocker. I guess this guy is not as stupid as we think.

    -- Posted by can't_understand on Sat, Nov 15, 2008, at 3:20 AM

  • "Personal life frustrations"..oh man. Who cares why he was pulled over? That is the job of the police department. To keep the streets safe. A rolling meth lab...is not safe. Here is an idea...if you don't want to go to to jail, don't do illegal things. That way if you get pulled over for a "ridiculous" reason, you have nothing to worry about. It's pretty simple! On a 20/20 re-run I was watching about 3 weeks ago, a police officer pulled over a car for no turn signal. He heard thumping from the trunk. In the trunk, was a young woman bound and gagged that the man had kidnapped, as well as a shovel and a trash bag. I bet that officer and the young lady's family is glad he pulled that car over for such a "ridiculous" reason. I have known Chad Buttery and his brothers since high school. They have been getting in trouble for years. It is time they grow up and stop being such menaces to society. All you have to do is go to the top of the page and search the name Buttery in the Banner and see how many things come up! Good for you Greencastle Police!! Keep doing your job, no matter how much grief you get for doing it!!

    -- Posted by putnammom on Sat, Nov 15, 2008, at 8:36 AM

  • putnammom: I cannot agree with you more. When people complain about safety laws it gets me upset. All these "ridiculous reasons" for pulling people over is BECAUSE THEY ARE IMPORTANT LAWS THAT HELP IN THE SAFETY OF OTHERS and myself"!!

    -- Posted by barb4him2 on Sat, Nov 15, 2008, at 10:21 AM

  • Seriously ... do you people just sit around waiting to pounce on every little error? That's ONE letter ... it could have happened to anyone, and spell check wouldn't catch the mistake. Yes, some of the errors are major, but that one? Come on.

    -- Posted by feelingroovy1103 on Sun, Nov 16, 2008, at 9:19 AM

  • "thebuckstopsnowhere" I am not casting stones. I know we are all human and make mistakes. GreencastlesFinest was making comments about getting pulled over for "ridiculous reasons". I am only saying, don't do something illegal and then whine that you were caught and how you were caught. The police could pull me over anytime of the day or night for any reason they see fit and I would never have to worry. There ARE responsible people in the world that do respect the safety of others, obey the laws and make good choices. I am not a goody goody or judge others for a mistake. It just makes me angry when people bash the police department for things like pulling over someone for a broken tail light and happening on a drunk driver or a rolling meth lab. Well..TOO BAD!!! I'm glad they do it. My family has the right to be safe when we drive down the road. As far as what I said about the Butterys..It isn't like they broke the law one time bc of a bad choice. This entire family has been breaking the law and committing the same offenses over and over again for years. Making and dealing drugs, running from the police, driving while suspended, drugs in the house with their children, the list goes on and on. Like I said I have known them for years. They started getting trouble back in school. It IS time they knock it off and grown up.

    -- Posted by putnammom on Sun, Nov 16, 2008, at 2:18 PM

  • Give the police a break.Sure they can be a pain in the u know what,but then,so can u and I. Overall tho,they do a job no one wants,pay isnt spectacular and,yes,even REDUCE the scums,morons,ect that dirty up our lives. Be clean,law obiding and theres no problem. Even tho the police can be a pain, I for one appreciate what they do.(except hangin out at gas america a bit too long!lol)Givin that donut/coffee stereotype some legs...

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Mon, Nov 17, 2008, at 6:10 AM

  • Just wonderin,what is "the LE"? Talk is good down there whatever it is...

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Mon, Nov 17, 2008, at 6:19 AM

  • The focus shouldnt be on the police, the focus should be it doesnt matter who represents him in court, he needs to be put in PRISON. Not Putnam County Jail, but actual prison, hard core prison. Maybe he will think twice about making drugs if you put him in a cell with a murderer and not some poor kid who was underage drinking!

    -- Posted by WTFRUthinkin on Mon, Nov 17, 2008, at 7:55 AM

  • Well judging from what GreencastlesFinest was talking about I'd say he was meaning Law Enforcement. Just a guess though ;)

    -- Posted by putcoresident on Mon, Nov 17, 2008, at 2:30 PM

  • Better Watch IT!! He might skip....just like the illegals........man...let the druggies off..too sad

    -- Posted by sad_but_true on Mon, Nov 17, 2008, at 10:44 PM

  • To WTFRUthinkin... I agree, if he is a habitual offender, he needs something more than PC Jail. He probably has buddies in there by now. But in all honesty, I doubt that would even change him. He'd probably just come out even more hard core and ruthless, b/c of what he learned while on the inside.

    -- Posted by MsBehaving on Tue, Nov 18, 2008, at 11:29 AM

  • The prison may have some of the "luxuries" you describe, this is true. But I have been in the Carlisle prison and the federal pen in Terre Haute. Let me tell you, those places are NOT fun no matter how great the cable is.

    -- Posted by MsBehaving on Wed, Nov 19, 2008, at 11:06 AM

  • LOL...my point is made!! His brother Brandon Buttery just made Crawfordsville headlines for running from police in a high speed chase and crashing his vehicle bc of a bunch of outstanding warrants.

    www.thepaper24-7.com

    You can look Brandon's name up on here..this one has already been in a ton of trouble.

    Like I said before..they have been breaking the law for years and have no intention of stopping. Hopefully they will put them away this time for a long time!! Maybe all the brothers can share a cell! What a bunch of losers!!!

    -- Posted by putnammom on Mon, Dec 1, 2008, at 7:06 AM
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