HUNTINGTON WOMAN GETS 180 DAYS FOR COCAINE-SMUGGLING

Husband Withdraws Guilty Plea, To Stand Trial

A 28-year-old woman was sentenced to 180 days in jail for using
Bibles to smuggle cocaine to her husband inside the Huntington County
Jail, but a judge rejected her husband's guilty plea for the same offense.

Amy Duckworth, 28, of the 700 block of North Lafontaine Street,
offered a tearful apology Monday morning to Huntington Circuit Judge
Pro Tem Thomas Hakes. "I wasn't thinking about my children," she
said, reading from a statement. "It only took one time (getting into
trouble) to learn my lesson."

The couple pleaded guilty earlier this summer to two counts each of
trafficking with an inmate. In March, jail officers seized Bibles
containing cocaine and tobacco tucked into the books' spines. Amy
Duckworth purchased the Bibles at an area Wal-Mart using a credit
card and smuggled them into her husband in the jail.

Hakes told Amy Duckworth that, while she had no prior felony arrests
and only one misdemeanor incident, he had been "fighting with"
himself about her sentence.

He was troubled that she had trafficked with an inmate - a serious
offense - and had gone out and bought cocaine.

"I take into consideration that you have children," Hakes said. "You
should have then."

Shortly after Hakes sentenced Amy Duckworth, her husband Anthony
Duckworth, 32, asked the judge to dismiss his guilty plea because he
said he didn't understand how much time he could get in prison when
he pleaded guilty.

Hakes agreed to dismiss the guilty plea after a discussion with
Anthony Duckworth and his attorney John Clifton. Clifton said he was
responsible for Anthony Duckworth's understanding of the plea
agreement, which called for a recommended prison sentence of four years.

Anthony Duckworth, however, thought the agreement called for a cap of
four years, regardless of factors working against him at sentencing.

As Clifton explained to Hakes Anthony Duckworth's impression of his
sentencing, Duckworth sat rubbing his hand on his shaved head, his
eyes toward the defense table.

Huntington County Prosecutor John Branham told Hakes he was
uncomfortable with what was unfolding. He said he was concerned that
every defendant could come into court, in spite of having time to
read and digest a plea agreement, and say they don't understand it.

"We're sort of in a state of limbo," Branham told Hakes, adding that
at no time did the prosecutor's office tell Clifton that Duckworth
would receive a sentence capped at four years.

At first Hakes said he would go ahead and sentence Duckworth, but he
asked Duckworth if he had anything to say.

The only thing Duckworth said was that he didn't understand the plea
agreement because of how Clifton explained it to him.

Clifton said they wanted to rescind the plea.

Branham told Hakes that Duckworth had set up a perfect situation for
post-conviction relief, or getting time knocked off his sentence, by
claiming ineffective assistance of counsel.

He said the state can take the case to trial, and between now and a
trial date will consider filing information that Duckworth is a
habitual criminal offender and ask for consecutive sentences, rather
than concurrent ones.

If he is convicted of the charges, Duckworth could face more than
eight years in prison.

Hakes granted Clifton's motion and set a hearing for next week to
pick a date for trial.

Duckworth remains in the Huntington County Jail.