After pleading guilty to dealing meth and heroin, Jose Daniel Ortiz, 39, was given the maximum possible sentence of 30 years in the Indiana Department of Correction, according to Marshall County Prosecutor Nelson Chipman. He says the charges stem from a series of transactions that took place between July and October of last year.
Chipman says they started when Ortiz sold 8.1 grams of meth in Centennial Park, while children – including his own – were playing on the playground. A few days later, he reportedly sold meth at a Plymouth gas station. After that, Chipman says Ortiz sold heroin in the Dollar General parking lot last September and 11.6 grams of heroin the following month in LaPaz.
Chipman notes that Ortiz had a prior conviction for dealing and also has a possession of heroin case pending in Elkhart County. He’s also reportedly violated probation every time he was given an opportunity for less restrictive sentencing
Chipman says the plea agreement was approved Thursday in Marshall Superior Court No. 1. In a press release Friday, Chipman said Ortiz “has ruined many lives.” The prosecutor went on to say that he hopes “never to hear about Mr. Ortiz again.”
