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 couple’s 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.