A Jennings County man recently received a 13-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to a Class B felony charge of dealing a controlled substance.
Brian M. Schachel, 34, of Butlerville received that sentence in Jackson Circuit Court after the court accepted a plea agreement. He also received three additional years for a Class D felony conviction of dealing in marijuana.
Schachel will serve the two sentences at the same time. Three additional charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.
Schachel’s plea ends a case that began three years ago when police reported they caught him smuggling bricks of marijuana and about 250 pills north of Seymour.
On the morning of Jan. 20, 2012, Indiana State Trooper Randel Miller reported he stopped Schachel as he was driving south on State Road 11 near Cypress Lake for having too dark of a tint on the windows of his Dodge Durango.
Miller said during the traffic stop he discovered Schachel was on parole.
Miller also said he remembered Schachel from an incident 10 years earlier in North Vernon. That incident led to Schachel’s arrest for possession of a firearm as a felon.
Schachel told Miller that he was traveling to Seymour to meet his ex-girlfriend, who had just gotten fired from her job, police said.
Miller asked Schachel about his criminal history and eventually asked permission to search Schachel’s vehicle so he could then tell his parole officer everything checked out OK.
Soon, Trooper Stephen Wheeles arrived on scene with his police dog and was led around Schachel’s Durango. The dog began barking and alerting his handler to the odor of drugs, Miller said.
Police searched the rear hatch area of the Durango and found a black garbage bag with three bricks of marijuana, which Schachel admitted was about 8 pounds’ worth he brought back from Indianapolis, police said.
Miller said in his report that Schachel admitted to selling about 30 pounds of marijuana a week and had sold up to $500 worth. He said suppliers were bringing loads of 200 pounds at time for which he paid about $975 per pound.
Drug Enforcement Sgt. Trevor Wiggam was called to the scene along with Drug Section Detective Dave Mitchell.
Schachel also told police officers that he had switched from selling small amounts to pounds and was “going to get caught because he was getting greedy.” He also admitted to selling pills.
Police asked Schachel who he was dealing to and he told them to buyers in Seymour, North Vernon and Madison, including some young kids, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Police searched the Durango’s floorboard and found a black backpack containing plastic bags — one that had a white substance in it — and a glass jar with marijuana.
There also was a 10-pound food scale and a small digital scale along with three bags of pills. Some of those pills included gabapentin, methadone, hydrocodone, amphetamine and muscle relaxers. In total, there were about 250 pills. Two cellphones also were seized, police said.
Schachel was arrested that morning and taken to the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown.
Other charges dropped as part of the plea agreement included three Class B felonies of dealing in a Schedule V controlled substance near an under 18/bus/public park and two counts of dealing in a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to manufacture, according to court documents.
Schachel received 11 days credit and 11 days credit time. He will have to pay court costs, a drug interdiction fee of $200 and a public defender fee of $350.