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2-year sentence wraps up final 2 cases against Richmond man

Mike Emery
The Palladium-Item
Kristopher A. Carico

RICHMOND, Ind. — A Richmond man already serving four years of incarceration saw his penalty grow by two years Tuesday.

Kristopher A. Carico, 29, received concurrent, aggravated, two-year sentences after pleading guilty to Level 6 felony charges of maintaining a common nuisance and possession of Suboxone as detailed in a plea agreement he reached with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. Carico will serve the sentence consecutively to the four-year sentence he received March 3 after pleading guilty to Level 5 felony possession of a machine gun and Level 6 felony maintaining a common nuisance.

The plea agreement also dismissed seven felony charges, including a Level 2 felony charge of aiding, inducing or causing the dealing of heroin. Five of the charges were for neglect of a dependent, and the other was for theft of a firearm.

Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Green said issues with the Level 2 felony case would hamper prosecution although she would be willing to try the case.

"I felt they would make it very tough to prove, possible but tough," she said. "I think, all in all, it's an appropriate resolution to put an end to all of these cases."

Superior Court I Judge Charles Todd Jr. noted there's a difference between believing a defendant is guilty of a crime and proving it beyond reasonable doubt in front of a jury. He then accepted the plea agreement.

Todd credited Carico with 52 days served and 52 good-time days. If Carico receives the maximum good time, he would serve three years of the Level 5 felony sentence and one year of the Level 6 felony sentence for a total of four years.

Carico's legal issues began May 5, 2016, when he and his wife, Khandyce Carico, were arrested after officers searched their then-residence in the 3400 block of Glen Hills Drive while serving Khandyce Carico with an arrest warrant accusing her of dealing heroin. The officers allegedly found 11.96 grams of heroin, digital scales, $1,350 cash and three weapons, including a Colt AR-15 machine gun that had been stolen from a Richmond Police Department vehicle with a malfunctioning trunk latch, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

That search led to the charges resulting in the four-year sentence Carico received in March.

The aiding, inducing or causing the dealing of heroin charge accused Carico of driving his wife March 7, 2016, to Walgreens where she sold about 28 grams of heroin to a Wayne County Drug Task Force confidential informant.

After Khandyce Carico was sentenced to 17½ years of incarceration with four suspended to probation, officers arrived Nov. 14 outside Kristopher Carico's South Fifth Street residence to arrest him on the aiding charge's warrant. According to an affidavit of probable cause, Carico asked the officers to take his keys to his live-in girlfriend. When the girlfriend answered the door, the officers smelled marijuana.

Officers received a search warrant for the house, allegedly finding a bag containing 14 grams of marijuana, five children between the ages of 4 and 11, a shotgun that had been reported stolen, a digital scale, a calibration weight, a partial strip of Suboxone and 10 shotgun shells, according to an affidavit.

That resulted in the nuisance and possession charges for which Carico was convicted Tuesday.