Starke County Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Trafficking Charges

Starke County Courthouse

The initial hearing for a woman accused of trying to smuggle contraband into the Starke County Jail was held last week in the Starke Circuit Court.

Lindsey Dennis pleaded not guilty to a charge of Attempting Trafficking With an Inmate as a Class C felony and denied allegations that she had helped to hide a controlled substance inside a deodorant container to smuggle into the jail.

A Starke County Sheriff’s Department officer said he had listened to recordings of phone conversations at the jail and learned that inmate Vincent Rosetti had allegedly asked a woman to hide tobacco and other items in the deodorant container. On Sept. 26, the officer interviewed Lindsey. She allegedly told police that Rosetti had called her and asked her to bring the items in and give them to inmate Chris Gross.

Dennis’s attorney status hearing is set for Nov. 16 at 10:30 a.m., with her first pretrial conference date Dec. 12 at 8 a.m. The second pretrial conference date and plea agreement deadline is Jan. 17 at 8 a.m.

Dennis’s bond was reduced and she was released on her own recognizance under the condition that she remain on home detention through Starke County Community Corrections, and undergo substance abuse treatment at Porter-Starke Services. She will also be required to submit to random drug and alcohol screens.