Inmate's request for sentence modification denied

GREENCASTLE -- A Greencastle man who was approved for release from prison into a transition program has been denied a sentence modification.

Michael Smoot, 46, was convicted in April of Class C felony possession of cocaine. Putnam County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley handed Smoot a six-year Indiana Department of Correction sentence -- three years to be served at the DOC, one to be served on home detention and two to be served on probation.

On Dec. 1, Headley approved Smoot for the DOC's community transition program. Under the terms of the program, Smoot would still technically be a DOC inmate, but would be on electronic home monitoring.

On Dec. 17, Smoot sent a letter to the court requesting that his sentence be reduced. The state filed an objection to the request on Dec. 11, and Headley denied Smoot's request on Friday.

Information at the DOC Web site indicated that Smoot was still incarcerated at the Putnamville Correctional Facility. His earliest possible release date is listed as April 4.

Smoot was apprehended in October 2008 after remaining at large for more than six months. He was tipped off on March 22, 2008 that police were coming to raid his home for drugs, and Smoot fled to Indianapolis with his wife and toddler daughter.

He was eventually arrested during a traffic stop in Marion County.

Court records said Smoot dealt drugs out of his home. At his sentencing, Putnam County Probation Officer Teresa Parrish objected to Smoot being placed on any sort of house arrest for that reason.

Initially, Smoot was charged with Class A felony dealing in cocaine. Headley accepted a plea agreement that downgraded the charge to a Class C felony, taking 12 years off the maximum sentence Smoot could

The maximum sentence for a Class C felony is eight years.