Published: March 07, 2009 01:03 am      

Former jailer pleads guilty to trafficking with an inmate

A former Floyd County corrections officer — accused of bringing an inmate alcohol and having sex with him — pleaded guilty Thursday to class C felony trafficking with an inmate.

Michelle A. Hurst, 39, of Borden, allegedly admitted to having sexual intercourse with 31-year-old Craig Proctor, who was serving time in jail after pleading guilty to theft charges.

From June 12 to June 30, Proctor made 40 calls to Hurst’s cell phone. In the conversations which were taped by police, Hurst said she would bring tobacco products and a cell phone to him in jail, according to court documents.

Hurst also admitted to going to Proctor’s mother’s house to get pills to bring to him. She said she brought him two Lortabs and three other pills. One time, she allegedly even brought him Maker’s Mark and Wild Turkey whiskey and a mp3 player.

Her attorney, William Gray, said his client has accepted responsibility for her actions by entering the guilty plea.

“She has a tremendous amount of support from her family and friends and wants to get this behind her and move on with whatever punishment the judge feels is appropriate,” Gray said in a written statement to The Tribune.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 27, at which time Superior Court No. 1 Judge Susan Orth will decide whether to accept the plea deal. She entered a blind plea meaning Orth will decide the sentence. The minimum sentence for a class C felony is two years and a $10,000 fine, and the maximum sentence is eight years.

“[Hurst] has either been incarcerated or on home incarceration for the past eight months and hopes that weighs heavily on the judge’s determination of the sentence,” Gray said.

Charges of class A misdemeanor trafficking with an inmate and class C felony sexual misconduct by a service provider will be dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Hurst told police that she had sex with Proctor at least twice in July and gave him oral sex two other times, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Sheriff Darrell Mills said at the time that he monitors his employees very closely and will not tolerate anything unprofessional.

Hurst was an employee of the sheriff’s department from April 5 through July 21. Mills said she was fired immediately once he heard the allegations because she was still on probationary status.



Man pleads guilty to dealing cocaine

A Louisville man — who was arrested at Beechwood Terrace Housing Complex in March 2008 — has pleaded guilty to class B felony dealing in cocaine.

George C. Blythe, 29, was arrested by the New Albany Police Department after police found crack cocaine and nearly 187 grams of marijuana in an apartment room, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Blythe told police all of the drugs were his and said he had been selling drugs for about four months to supplement his income, court records state.

He had been charged with class A felony dealing cocaine, but that charge was amended to the B felony. Class A felony possession of cocaine, class D felony dealing marijuana and class D felony possession of marijuana charges will be dropped.

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 29 at which time Superior Court No. 1 Judge Susan Orth will decide whether or not to accept the plea.

He could be sentenced to six to 20 years, but the plea agreement has a cap of 10 years of executed time.

His attorney, Niles Driskell, said he plans to bring witnesses to speak at the sentencing hearing.