Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 55A01-1711-CR-2714| June 25, 2018 Page 1 of 5

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of establishing 

the defense of res judicata, collateral 

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Joseph D. Gaunt

The Gaunt Law Office 

Martinsville, Indiana 

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Curtis T. Hill, Jr. 

Attorney General of Indiana

Evan Matthew Comer

Deputy Attorney General 

Indianapolis, Indiana 

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Craig Thacker,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff. 

June 25, 2018

Court of Appeals Case No.

55A01-1711-CR-2714

Appeal from the Morgan Superior 

Court

The Honorable Peter Foley, Judge

Trial Court Cause No.

55D01-1606-F6-792

Bradford, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 55A01-1711-CR-2714| June 25, 2018 Page 2 of 5

Case Summary 

[1] In May of 2016, Craig Thacker removed his electronic monitoring device and 

disappeared for four days. On June 1, 2016, the State charged Thacker with 

Level 6 felony escape and Class A misdemeanor theft and alleged him to be a 

habitual offender. On August 7, 2017, Thacker pled guilty to Level 6 felony

escape in exchange for the dismissal of the theft charge and habitual offender 

allegation. On September 11, 2017, the trial court sentenced Thacker to a twoand-one-half-year executed sentence. Thacker contends that his sentence was 

inappropriate in light of the nature of his offense and his character. Concluding 

that Thacker’s sentence was not inappropriate, we affirm. 

Facts and Procedural History 

[2] On May 11, 2016, Thacker was placed on home detention for fifty days 

following a drug conviction. During that period, Thacker was required to wear 

an electronic monitoring device. Approximately two weeks after being placed 

on home detention, Thacker was ordered by Morgan County Community 

Corrections (“community corrections”) to report for a drug screening. After 

receiving that phone call, Thacker cut off the electronic monitoring device and 

mailed it to community corrections. Community corrections, however, never 

received the device. 

[3] Thacker subsequently disappeared for four days. After he was found, he was 

taken into custody and charged with Level 6 felony escape and Class A 
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 55A01-1711-CR-2714| June 25, 2018 Page 3 of 5

misdemeanor theft and alleged to be habitual offender. Thacker pled guilty to 

the escape charge on August 7, 2017, in exchange for the dismissal of the theft 

charge and habitual offender allegation. During sentencing, the trial court 

found no mitigating circumstances, but did find the following aggravating 

circumstances: (1) Thacker recently violated the terms of his probation, (2) 

Thacker violated the terms of home detention, and (3) Thacker possessed a 

significant criminal history. Thacker’s criminal record includes eleven 

misdemeanors, twelve felonies, and three juvenile delinquency adjudications. 

The trial court sentenced Thacker to two-and-one-half years in prison. 

Discussion and Decision

[4] The sole issue for our review is whether Thacker’s two-and-one-half-year

sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of his offense and character. 

Under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), “[t]he Court may revise a sentence 

authorized by statute if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, the 

Court finds that the sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense 

and the character of the offender.” When reviewing such claims, we 

“concentrate less on comparing the facts of the [case at issue] to others, whether 

real or hypothetical, and more on focusing on the nature, extent, and depravity 

of the offense for which the defendant is being sentence, and what it reveals 

about the defendant’s character.” Paul v. State, 888 N.E.2d 818, 825 (Ind. Ct. 

App. 2008) (internal quotes and citations omitted). Thacker, as the defendant, 
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bears the burden of persuading us that his sentence is inappropriate. Sanchez v. 

State, 891 N.E.2d 174, 176 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008). 

[5] With respect to the nature of the offense, Thacker cut off his electronic 

monitoring device and disappeared for four days. The record shows that 

Thacker claimed that he had a “panic attack” that caused him to intentionally 

escape from home detention. Tr. Vol. I p. 24. The evidence also shows that 

Thacker knew he was required to go to a drug screen around the time that he 

escaped from home detention. While this escape is not the most egregious of 

crimes, it does show an intentional abuse of his home detention and an inability 

to respect the terms of his probation. 

[6] As for his character, at age fifty, Thacker has amassed a significant criminal 

record. Thacker’s criminal record includes eleven misdemeanors, twelve 

felonies, and three juvenile delinquency adjudications. The record shows that 

Thacker has received the benefit of probation, treatment, and short jail 

sentences in those previous cases, but continues to reoffend. In total, Thacker 

has been on probation nine times, violating the terms of his probation seven 

times. As for treatment, the record shows that Thacker has been enrolled in 

eight different programs for his drug use and has failed to complete 

approximately half of those programs. Despite Thacker’s frequent contacts 

with the criminal justice system, he has not chosen to reform himself. Based on 

the above-mentioned evidence of Thacker’s character and the nature of his 

offense, Thacker has failed to establish that his two-and-one-half-year sentence 

was inappropriate. 
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[7] The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. 

Baker, J., and Kirsch, J., concur.