Parolee awaiting trial date

By JAMIE BARRAND

Editor

A Cloverdale man facing drug and weapons charges is still moving toward a trial, although no date has yet been set.

Randy Aaron Sawyer, 38, has been charged in Putnam County Circuit Court with possession of methamphetamine and carrying a handgun without a license, both Class C felonies punishable by up to eight years in prison. Sawyer is also facing a habitual offender designation, which could significantly increase his sentence.

Sawyer was in court Thursday for a pretrial conference. He is being represented by James Hullen Holder Jr., a Bainbridge-based attorney.

Sawyer was on parole through the Terre Haute Parole District when he was arrested Sept. 22 by Putnam County Sheriff's Department Lt. Dwight Simmons.

Simmons stopped the vehicle Sawyer was driving on southbound U.S. 231. Simmons discovered Sawyer had no insurance on the vehicle, and informed Sawyer the car would be impounded.

Simmons then conducted an inventory of the vehicle, court documents said. He found a handgun wedged between the driver's seat and the center console, and when he asked Sawyer if he had a permit for it, Sawyer responded that he did not. Sawyer was placed under arrest at that time.

Further inventory of Sawyer's vehicle turned up a pill bottle approximately half-full of a crystal-like substance, which turned out to be a cutting agent for meth, court documents said.

Sawyer has done prison time for a number of offenses, including possession of cocaine or narcotic drugs, possession of chemical reagents or precursors and forgery.

Sawyer was released on his own recognizance on Sept. 23, and remains free.