A Whiteland man has been sentenced in Brown Circuit Court to serve 12 years in prison for possession of methamphetamine.

Erick A. Snow’s sentence was part of a plea agreement, the Brown County prosecutor’s office reported. The state agreed to dismiss a habitual offender enhancement — which would have given him more jail time — in exchange for the maximum sentence.

Snow, now 44, was found lying in the middle of Hornettown Road in February 2016. Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Williams reported he was holding a bag that contained a large amount of methamphetamine. He was charged that month with Level 4 felony possession.

Prosecutor Ted Adams revoked Snow’s bond in September 2017 after Snow picked up a new dealing methamphetamine allegation out of Johnson County.

“Given the open Johnson County dealing case and the felony criminal history, I felt the maximum sentence was warranted in this matter,” Adams said in a news release.

“The Brown County Sheriff’s Office did a great job with enforcement and intervention and preserving the evidence, including more than 13 grams of methamphetamine.”

If convicted in Johnson County of dealing in meth, Snow faces an additional 12 years that would have to be served after his Brown County sentence.

“There’s a difference between those addicts in mere possession of a gram and those who possess in bulk; the legislature infers that bulk possession should be treated more like dealing for reasons one can certainly infer,” Adams said.

“Law enforcement will continually strive to send a message in our war on drug addiction in Brown County; we will continually seek heavy sentences for those caught dealing or possessing mass quantities of narcotics and hard drugs.”