MADISON COUNTY, Ind. — An incarcerated drug dealer was caught supplying Madison County Jail inmates with meth last week.
According to court documents filed Friday, a jail commander asked if the Madison County Sheriff's Office could assist with an investigation of 58-year-old Joseph Martin Jones. When deputies arrived at the jail to provide assistance, officials told them Jones had committed a facility rules violation.
During a subsequent video review of the violation, deputies were shown footage of Jones clogging a toilet with socks. Jones then pulled a purple outer covering from the toilet and threw it on the ground.
Court records indicate the video later showed Jones picking the covering off the floor and rinsing in the sink. Jones then removed his socks from the toilet and flushed the purple covering.
Additional video jail staff showed deputies depicted Jones flashing a baggie containing a white substance at other inmates. In the video, Jones was also seen crushing the white substance from the baggie and placing it on a piece of paper.
Once he had put the substance on one piece of paper, Jones fashioned a second piece of paper into a straw. Jones then lent the straw to one of his fellow inmates, who used it to snort the substance Jones had crushed earlier.
Deputies and jail staff also reported that, during their investigation, they discovered Jones had also tried to trade the substance for E-cigarettes.
Jail staff ultimately confiscated the substance from Jones. After officials tested the substance, they identified it as meth.
When deputies confronted Jones about the meth, he told them he did not wish to speak on the matter.
Indiana's public court reporting system indicates Jones now faces two charges — dealing in methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine. The charges are Level 4 and 5 felonies, respectively.
Previous reporting indicates Jones was already involved in a drug dealing court case before he was caught distributing meth in jail. When he was first arrested in 2018, police determined he had been selling narcotics he got from an Indianapolis supplier in Madison County.
During a 2018 traffic stop with Jones, police found one pound of meth, 20 grams of heroin, more than 10 grams of Klonopins, MDMA, a digital scale and a loaded gun. When law enforcement executed a subsequent search warrant on Jones' residence, hundreds of baggies, additional firearms and three more digital scales were uncovered.
Following his 2018 arrest, Jones was hit with 10 charges — eight of which were felonies. The most serious of the 2018 charges were three counts of dealing in methamphetamines.
Dealing in methamphetamines is a Level 2 Felony in Indiana. The maximum penalty for a Level 2 Felony in the Hoosier State is a 30-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.
Public court records indicate Jones' 2018 drug case is still ongoing. The case tied to Jones' alleged drug dealing at the Madison County Jail began on Monday, when he appeared in court for an initial hearing.