John P. Jones v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 51A04-1606-CR-1420

John Paul Jones pleaded guilty to Level 5 felony dealing in methamphetamine pursuant to a plea agreement: State dismissed remaining counts and capped sentence at four years.
PSI and amended PSI reflected Jones initially denying drug use; at sentencing he admitted limited meth use and that he participated despite claiming he was set up.
Court imposed four years with one year suspended to probation and recommended purposeful incarceration; defense sought two years plus probation.
Trial court found Jones lacked stable housing, employment, and significant family supports; he was ineligible for community corrections.
Jones has a limited prior criminal history but poor community ties and inconsistent statements about drug use and responsibility for the offense.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial court abused its sentencing discretion	State: sentence within plea cap and supported by findings	Jones: court abused discretion by imposing maximum cap and relying on unstable housing finding	No abuse; record supports housing/employment findings and sentence within plea cap
Whether sentence is inappropriate under App. R. 7(B)	State: 4 years (1 suspended) is within range and justified by offense/character	Jones: sentence is inappropriate given limited criminal history and nature of offense	Sentence not inappropriate; close to advisory and justified by offense details and character issues

Anglemyer v. State, 868 N.E.2d 482 (Ind. 2007) (standards for reviewing sentencing statements and abuse of discretion)
Childress v. State, 848 N.E.2d 1073 (Ind. 2006) (appellant bears burden to show sentence inappropriate)
Alvies v. State, 905 N.E.2d 57 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009) (appellate authority to review and revise sentences under Article 7 and Rule 7(B))
Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219 (Ind. 2008) (nature of App. R. 7(B) review and factors to consider)