Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2258 | April 22, 2019 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

Brian A. Karle

Ball Eggleston, PC

Lafayette, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Curtis T. Hill, Jr.

Attorney General of Indiana

Tyler G. Banks

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Corina M. Smith,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff

April 22, 2019

Court of Appeals Case No.

18A-CR-2258

Appeal from the 

Tippecanoe Superior Court

The Honorable 

Steven Meyer, Judge

Trial Court Cause No.

79D02-1707-F5-85

Vaidik, Chief Judge.

Case Summary
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2258 | April 22, 2019 Page 2 of 5

[1] Corina M. Smith appeals her sentence of five years for trafficking with an 

inmate, arguing that it is inappropriate in light of the nature of her offense and 

her character. We disagree and affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] This case arose from an incident in September 2016 in which Smith was caught 

mailing a strip or strips of Buprenorphine, a controlled substance, to her 

boyfriend, Kyle Balser, while he was an inmate at the Tippecanoe County Jail. 

The State charged her with Level 5 felony trafficking with an inmate, but not 

until July 2017. In the interim, Smith committed three additional felonies that 

led to three additional prosecutions: Level 4 felony dealing in 

methamphetamine in White County in December 2016, see Case No. 91D01-

1701-F2-19; Level 2 felony conspiracy to commit dealing in methamphetamine 

in Tippecanoe County in February 2017, see Case No. 79D02-1706-F2-13; and 

Level 6 felony theft in Tippecanoe County in March 2017, see Case No. 79D05-

1703-F6-216. Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 68.

[3] Smith pled guilty and was sentenced in two of those other cases—F6-216 and 

F2-19—in 2017. Then, in June 2018, Smith and the State entered into a plea 

agreement under which Smith agreed to plead guilty as charged in this case and 

to plead guilty to Level 2 felony conspiracy to commit dealing in 

methamphetamine and to being a habitual offender in F2-13, with sentencing 

left to the discretion of the trial court. In this case, the trial court sentenced 

Smith to five years in the Department of Correction. In F2-13, the court 
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2258 | April 22, 2019 Page 3 of 5

sentenced Smith to twenty-eight years, to run consecutive to the five years in 

this case. 

[4] Smith has separately appealed her sentences in this case and in F2-13. In this 

memorandum decision, we address Smith’s five-year sentence for trafficking 

with an inmate. In another memorandum decision issued today, we affirm 

Smith’s twenty-eight-year sentence in F2-13 but remand to the trial court to 

reconsider whether Smith’s sentences in these two cases should run 

concurrently or consecutively (Judge Altice dissents on the latter issue). See 

Corina M. Smith v. State, 18A-CR-2214 (Ind. Ct. App. Apr. 22, 2019).

Discussion and Decision

[5] Smith contends that her five-year sentence for trafficking with an inmate is 

inappropriate and asks us to reduce it pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), 

which provides that an appellate 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.” “Whether a sentence is inappropriate ultimately 

turns on the culpability of the defendant, the severity of the crime, the damage 

done to others, and a myriad of other factors that come to light in a given case.” 

Thompson v. State, 5 N.E.3d 383, 391 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014) (citing Cardwell v. 

State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1224 (Ind. 2008)). Because we generally defer to the 

judgment of trial courts in sentencing matters, defendants have the burden of 
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2258 | April 22, 2019 Page 4 of 5

persuading us that their sentences are inappropriate. Schaaf v. State, 54 N.E.3d 

1041, 1044-45 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

[6] The starting point for determining whether a particular sentence is 

inappropriate is the advisory sentence set by the legislature. Bowman v. State, 51 

N.E.3d 1174, 1181 (Ind. 2016). The sentencing range for a Level 5 felony is 

one to six years, with an advisory sentence of three years. Ind. Code § 35-50-2-

6. Here, the trial court imposed an above-advisory term of five years.

[7] Regarding the nature of her offense, Smith asserts that “although 

Buprenorphine is a controlled substance, its practical application is for 

treatment of opioid addiction.” Appellant’s Br. p. 8. However, she does not 

dispute that the drug can also be used recreationally. Still, there does not 

appear to have been anything particularly egregious about Smith’s offense as 

compared to other instances of trafficking with an inmate.

[8] That said, Smith’s above-advisory sentence is more than justified by her 

criminal history, which she fails to discuss beyond noting that it is “nonviolent.” Id. The pre-sentence investigation report, the accuracy of which 

Smith does not contest, reveals the following. As a teenager, she was 

adjudicated a delinquent and eventually committed to the Indiana Girls’ School

for committing forgery, which would have been a felony if committed by an 

adult. In 1998, Smith was convicted of felony auto theft. In 1999, she was 

convicted of six counts of misdemeanor check deception. In 2004, she was 

convicted of five felonies: maintaining an illegal drug lab, possession of stolen 
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 18A-CR-2258 | April 22, 2019 Page 5 of 5

property, and three counts of possession of methamphetamine. In 2011 and 

2012, Smith had misdemeanor convictions for purchasing precursors and 

criminal trespass. Also, as discussed above, Smith committed multiple 

additional felonies in the months after she was caught trafficking: Level 4 felony 

dealing in methamphetamine (White County, December 2016); Level 2 felony 

conspiracy to commit dealing in methamphetamine (Tippecanoe County, 

February 2017); and Level 6 felony theft (Tippecanoe County, March 2017). 

Given this sustained history of felonies and other criminal conduct, we cannot 

say that Smith’s sentence is inappropriate. 

[9] Affirmed.

Kirsch, J., and Altice, J., concur.