A man facing charges in three separate cases, including one related to a meth lab explosion that left his wife with severe burns, recently accepted a plea deal that could see him spending 13 years in prison.
Jackson Circuit Court Senior Judge Bill Vance approved plea agreements this month in the three cases filed against Keith Warnock, 41, of Brownstown.
The most serious charge Warnock faced involved the meth lab explosion Sept. 7, 2014, at a home he shared with his wife and other family members at 500 W. Spring St. in Brownstown.
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Warnock’s wife, Jill Warnock, was treated and taken to a burn unit at Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis after that explosion, which destroyed the home. She was later released.
In January, Keith Warnock was arrested on a charge of dealing in methamphetamine with an explosion as an enhancement, a Level 2 felony, in connection with that incident. A person convicted of that charge faces 10 to 30 years in prison.
Vance sentenced Keith Warnock to 10 years on that charge as part of the plea agreement, which reduced the charge to dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 4 felony.
Warnock also received a two-year prison term after pleading guilty to dealing in methamphetamine, a Level 5 felony, in a second case.
That charge stems from a separate incident involving a pursuit in October 2014. The pursuit began in Seymour as police investigated a report of a 2002 GMC stolen from a residence in the 300 block of East Sixth Street.
Jackson County Officer Rob Henley reported at the time that several motorists were forced off the road during the pursuit, in which speeds reached 100 mph at times. Warnock was arrested after he stopped the vehicle and fled on foot near a residence on County Road 150N near County Road 400E.
Brownstown Officer Joe Kelly eventually used a stun gun to stop Warnock.
Jill Warnock, who was in the vehicle during the pursuit, also was arrested on a theft charge in a unrelated case at that time. She later received a six-month sentence in that case.
As part of the plea agreement in the case involving the pursuit, the state agreed to drop eight charges Keith Warnock also faced — a second Level 5 felony for dealing in methamphetamine; three Level 6 felonies for resisting law enforcement; three Class A misdemeanors — criminal recklessness (aggressive driving), criminal mischief and possession of paraphernalia; and a Class B misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana.
Keith Warnock also received a one-year prison term from Vance after pleading guilty to resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony, in a third case. The state dismissed a second resisting law enforcement charge and a possession of paraphernalia charge in that case. Warnock received 183 days of credit time and 183 days of good time credit in that case.
Vance ordered Warnock to serve all three sentences consecutively.