On Thursday, July 18, Ossie White, 48, of Austin was convicted of dealing in a fentanyl and was sentenced to six years in prison and will be on probation for four years after his release. The conviction for dealing is based on an Indiana law that says a person is dealing drugs when the state can prove they are in possession of the drugs with the intent to deliver them to someone else, said Scott County Prosecutor Chris Owens.
The prosecutor’s office was able to charge and convict White with an enhanced offense because he also has a prior conviction for dealing drugs.
In February of this year, the Scott County Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation that led to the arrest of White.
On Friday, July 19, Jesse Kiefer, 48, of Scottsbug was convicted of arson and violating the terms of probation. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
In June of last year, while Kiefer was on probation for prior felony conviction, he set fire to a house in Scottsburg. Quick actions and investigation by an investigator with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, the Scottsburg Fire Department, and the Scottsburg Police Department not only resulted in the fire safely being extinguished, but also quickly resulted in Kiefer being a prime suspect for the blaze. The investigation soon led to the filing of charges.
“The Scott County Prosecutor’s Office will use every tool provided to us by the legislature to hold criminals accountable in our community,” said Owens. “In these cases, we used the law regarding possession of drugs with intent to deliver, we used enhancements for prior convictions, and we used violations of probations to see that these offenders were removed from our streets.”