A Vallonia man accused of selling methamphetamine to an undercover agent four times in the fall of 2013 could spend the next 20 years in prison.

That’s the sentence Charles A. Root, 35, recently received from Jackson Circuit Judge Richard W. Poynter after he accepted Root’s agreement to plead guilty to one Class A felony count of dealing in methamphetamine.

Root was arrested in January 2014 on four counts of dealing in methamphetamine. The charges stemmed from an investigation conducted in late 2013 by Detective Benjamin R. Rudolph with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.

According to the probable affidavit signed by Rudolph, a confidential informant met with Root four times to purchase methamphetamine.

The first purchase of an 8-ball (3½ grams of meth) occurred Oct. 30, 2013. The agent paid $275 for that purchase, conducted at an undisclosed location in the county.

A second purchase of one gram was made by the agent with Root for $80 on Oct. 31, 2013. On Nov. 8, the agent purchased a second 8-ball for $280 from Root. On Nov. 15, another gram of meth was purchased from Root by the agent for $100.

Police supervised all of the purchases, Rudolph said.

Three of the four initial charges were Class A felonies because the purchases occurred within 1,000 feet of a public housing complex, Rudolph said. The fourth was a Class B felony.

The state agreed to dismiss three charges as part of the plea agreement.

Poynter did not suspend any of the 20-year prison term but gave Root 556 days of credit for time served and an additional 556 days of credit time.

Root, who has at least four other convictions for possession or dealing in Jackson and Clark counties, is being housed at the Indiana Department of Correction’s Reception Diagnostic Center.

Seymour Police Department assisted with the investigation.