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Last updated on Friday, August 24, 2012
(INDIANAPOLIS) - The Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of 32-year-old Jason Fields on two counts of dealing meth.
Bedford attorney John Plummer filed an appeal claiming the court abused its discretion when answering a question from the jury about the meaning of one of the final instructions.
The court ruled that Fields had not shown the trial court erred.
Fields was convicted of two C class B felonies by a Lawrence County jury in Lawrence Superior Court I in October.
Judge William Sleva sentenced Fields to 10 years in prison.
Te question about the final instruction, in question, came after the jury began its deliberations.
Fields was found guilty of purchasing meth for his roommate, Joe Roe, whom Fields didn't know was acting as a confidential informant.
During the trial, Plummer argued Fields had been entrapped in an attempt to arrest a man who was dealing a large quantity of drugs and who Fields bought the drugs from.
Plummer argued that when the arrest of the major dealer failed, police opted to arrest Fields
Plummer said they were going after a "big fish" and when they couldn't get him they arrested the "small fish".
Fields claimed he bought the drugs for Roe, so Roe wouldn't throw him out of he house they shared.
During the trial, Fields testified that he didn't get any drugs, money in exchange for buying the meth from a dealer that he and Roe knew.
Fields is serving his sentence at Branchville Correctional Facility with his earliest possible release date being 2016.
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