DRUG CRIMES KEEP JAILS FULL IN '08

TERRE HAUTE -- As Santa's boots shuffled across Wabash Valley
rooftops early Thursday morning, for hundreds of area residents it
was just another day in jail.

The Vigo County Jail population was 280 Friday afternoon, about 12
over the maximum allowed but nothing unusual.

"It might be just a hair more but not a big difference," Vigo County
Prosecutor Terry Modesitt said in reference to jail overcrowding
being the norm. "That's a constant battle."

Neighboring counties also posted normal numbers, ranging from the
high end in Clay County at 97 down to Sullivan County's 63, jail
personnel in those counties reported.

Modesitt said drugs and drug-related crimes were top billing in 2008
as thefts were driven by the desire to buy more illicit substances.

"It's all linked together," he said.

But a load of homicide trials is on the slate for 2009.

"We have a lot of stuff going on," he said, noting his office will
prosecute 10 to 12 homicide cases in the coming year.

Modesitt, who is personally handling the cases of Robert Martin and
Katron Walker, said his office will recommend the death penalty in
the latter.

But overall, jail personnel said the numbers in-house over Christmas
were about the same as the rest of the week, and for many, it was
just another day incarcerated.