September 18, 2007 09:10 pm
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The assistant director for Stepping Stones for Veterans, a shelter that provides transitional housing for homeless veterans and those fighting addiction, was arrested in northern Marion County after police caught him with 90 pounds of marijuana late Sunday.
Keith A. Barkdull, 29, Anderson, was arrested at about 11:45 p.m. in the 7400 block of Meridian Hills Court after Indiana State Police troopers found the marijuana in his vehicle, said 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten, public information officer for the Indianapolis Post.
Barkdull was being held without bond in the Marion County Jail on suspicion of dealing marijuana, a Class C felony, and possession of marijuana, a Class D felony, jail officials said. He was expected to be arraigned this morning.
Barkdull has been rehab director for Stepping Stones for Veterans, 332 W. 11th St., Anderson, and is the son of Harold Barkdull, who founded the organization and is its director, according to former resident Jason Ball. In a previous story in The Herald Bulletin, he was identified as the organization’s assistant director.
Harold Barkdull didn’t return messages left at the agency and his home on Tuesday.
“Keith is the man who runs the place every day,” said Ball, who contacted The Herald Bulletin.
Ball, 33, said he had been staying at Stepping Stones voluntarily until about two weeks ago when he failed a drug screen, testing positive for hydrocodone. He said it was Keith Barkdull who told him he could no longer stay at the shelter.
“I was just down on myself,” said Ball, admitting he has addiction problems. “I know I shouldn’t have did it, but I did it. I even admitted it.
“They kicked me out on the streets and I had nowhere to go. But I guess it’s OK for the director to sell marijuana to have nice things.”
Ball, who is currently staying with friends, has kept in touch with many Stepping Stones residents. Several told him the organization asked them not to talk about Keith Barkdull’s arrest.
“They wanted to be all hush-hush about it,” Ball said. “This isn’t like a relapse that happened (after) a few years of sobriety. This is something that had to (have) happened over years.”
Bursten said Keith Barkdull’s arrest had been part of an ongoing multi-state investigation. He said marijuana coming in from out-of-state was delivered to Barkdull at the Marion County residence.
“He was the intended recipient,” said Bursten, declining to elaborate. “It was delivered to him. He picked it up and was arrested. The investigation came to a conclusion with Mr. Barkdull’s arrest.”
The 90 pounds of marijuana could have been sold for as much as $45,000, according to Detective Joel Sandefur, spokesman for the Anderson Police Department. He said the drug sells for $300 to $500 per pound on the street.
“It depends on the grade of the marijuana,” said Sandefur, who wasn’t involved in the Keith Barkdull investigation.
Barkdull completed drug court, a diversion program for generally low-level drug offenders, in August 2006, after violating his probation on a previous drug conviction.
“This was a very hard program for me to complete,” Keith Barkdull writes in a letter published in The Herald Bulletin shortly after he completed drug court. “I came to the program after I violated probation, it was my last chance at freedom. I was first arrested when I was 15 years old for drugs and a gun charge. I am now 28 years old. I have been in the system for 13 years. This is my second week of freedom and I owe it all to the push that drug court and Judge David Hopper gave me.
“This program helps you change everything about your life,” he continues. “Many police officers and other people in the community thought I would never change and tell me they can’t believe it. I do know if Judge Fredrick Spencer would have sent me to prison instead of drug court I would have been released and went back to my same old lifestyle. In closing, the taxpayers paid more for me during my life of crime then they did in helping me change my life. If they would of had a program like this when I was 15, it might of not took me so long to change.”
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