Wanda
English Burnett
Editor
On November
23, Clifford Winters Jr., 45, of Osgood, learned what his punishment
would be after he pled guilty to Serious Violent Felon in Possession
of a Firearm and a Domestic Battery charge.
Circuit Court Judge Carl Taul pronounced the sentence of eight
years on the first count, and one year imprisonment on the second
count, with both sentences running concurrently. He will be
credited for the actual 389 days he has served since his arrest
in August of 2009.
The charges stem from an incident where Winters battered his
wife with two of the couples children in the home. He
fled that residence and went to another in Osgood where he tried
to commit suicide, according to Ripley Publishing Co. files.
Police confiscated a .38 calibur handgun, and Winters was transported
to the hospital where he recovered from his wounds.
Since Winters had a previous conviction in Decatur County in
1984 (Dealing in a Narcotic Drug) and he was in possession of
a handgun, he was charged with the Serious Violent Felon in
Possession of a Firearm charge, which is a Class B Felony.
Winters will have the 389 days subtracted from his eight-year
sentence and could receive half of that sentence for good behavior
while incarcerated with the Indiana Department of Corrections.
In court records it notes that Winters is ordered to pay $164.00
in court costs, and $360.00 in fees to the Ripley County Supplemental
Public Defender Fund. Mark Jones was Winters attorney.
Court records further indicate that it costs an average of $53.96
per day to house an adult inmate at the Indiana Department of
Corrections. If Winters served the full 8 years the total estimated
cost to incarcerate him would be $157,563.20. This cost does
not however take into consideration reductions or credits the
defendant could receive. It also does not reflect any future
changes in the cost of incarceration.