A Brown County man will serve two years on home detention after pleading guilty to dealing drugs.

Chad Guffey, 39, pleaded guilty on Nov. 30 to dealing in a Schedule I controlled substance as a Level 4 felony and dealing in marijuana as a Class A misdemeanor. When charges were filed last fall, the Schedule I dealing charge — for having more than 30 grams of psychedelic mushrooms — had been a Level 2 felony.

As part of the plea agreement, Guffey’s other charges were dismissed. Those included possession of a controlled substance (mushrooms), a Level 6 felony, and possession of paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

Guffey will serve his sentence on home detention. He was sentenced to 2,920 days with 730 days executed on the Level 4 felony and 365 days on the misdemeanor, plus 2,190 days of probation. Sentences will be served at the same time, not back to back.

Special judge AmyMarie Travis of Jackson County, who handled this case in place of Brown Circuit Court Judge Judith Stewart, told Guffey that if he does violate probation, he will have to serve his sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction.

“Your honor, I can tell you that is not going to happen,” Guffey told her.

With the help of his attorney, James T. Roberts of Nashville, Guffey told the court that he was ashamed and that his arrest last September was “very much a shock to him and his family.”

“Chad’s never been in trouble before,” Roberts said.

Police executed a search warrant on his home near Helmsburg on Sept. 19. They reported finding several burnt, hand-rolled cigarettes; several baggies of marijuana weighed out to one-eighth; scales on the fireplace mantle; and a large safe in the living room.

In the safe, police reported finding a large bag of marijuana and smaller bags that weighed a total of around 136 grams. Police also finding two baggies of psilocybin mushrooms weighing about 33 grams. Three additional baggies were found later, weighing 3 grams each, according to a probable-cause affidavit in the case.

Police seized $810 from the safe, which also contained a smaller scale, a box of baggies, a bong, multiple glass pipes, a metal pipe and an antler pipe that all smelled of marijuana.

Police also took possession of three firearms, which were later released to Guffey’s father, Ray.

Guffey was arrested and booked into the Brown County jail on Nov. 12 and released on bond the same day.

Roberts said his client is known as a “wheeler-dealer” in old cars and isn’t a drug kingpin. Guffey received the mushrooms from a guy at a Greenwood filling station and thought he could make money off them, Roberts said.

Under questioning from special prosecutor Don VanDerMoere, Guffey said he gave and sold marijuana to his friends “just as a habit.”

Guffey, a father of two, had sustained a brain injury in an accident years ago, when he used to race motocross, he told the court. He was prescribed a lot of medication, but he didn’t want to take it, he said.

“I feel I’ve let a lot of people down,” he said, hanging his head.

When asked if he had resolved to make amends, he quietly answered, “Yes,” then turned toward the wall and wiped his eyes.

Travis and VanDerMoere were assigned to the case to avoid the appearance of impropriety, as Guffey’s parents have close ties to county government and the sheriff’s department.

Since his arrest, Guffey has been meeting with a counselor and has been attending recovery meetings, Roberts said. All six of his drug tests have come back negative, Guffey told the court. “I felt pretty proud of myself,” he said.

Travis, a former prosecutor of drug crimes, said she believes the vast majority of drug dealers are “people who did bad things as opposed to bad people.”

She advised him not to be complacent about his recovery and to surround himself with positive activities and influences.

It can be “seductive” to be seen as the “go-to guy,” she said.

“But who’s not here in court today are your drug-dealing buddies.”