Man gets 10 years
Published 12:00 am Sunday, September 14, 2014
A Portsmouth man arrested in May for selling prescription pills in Lawrence County will spend the next decade in prison.
Jason Burton, 31, of 2213 Sixth St., pleaded guilty Wednesday to a first- and third-degree count of aggravated trafficking in drugs. An additional first-degree count was dismissed.
According to the indictment, the two charges listed Burton in possession of 155 oxycodone pills.
Judge Charles Cooper sentenced the man to 10 years in prison, $15,000 in fines and a driver’s license suspension.
Burton was on probation in Scioto County at the time of his arrest and as a condition of his sentence, he agreed to a civil forfeiture of property that was purchased with money made from the sale of drugs.
Burton was arrested following a joint investigation by the Ironton Drug and Special Response Team, the Lawrence County Drug and Major Crimes Task Force, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, the Portsmouth FBI bureau and the Southern Ohio Drug Task Force.
Also arrested at the time were Regina Burton, 20, of the same address, and Natasha Moore, 29, 3721 Stanton Ave., New Boston.
Moore also pleaded guilty Wednesday to a count of third-degree complicity to aggravated trafficking in drugs. Cooper set sentencing for Oct. 15 and ordered a presentence investigation.
The case against Regina Burton is still pending.
In other cases:
• John Waugh, 37, of 3305 S. Bend St., Loris, S.C., pleaded guilty to a second-degree count of illegal manufacture of drugs and a fifth-degree count of possession of drugs. Cooper sentenced the man to six years in prison, a three-year driver’s license suspension and a $1,250 fine.
• Adam Crown, 40, of 74 Private Drive 6510, Kitts Hill, was sentenced to four years in prison on a second-degree count of aggravated arson, to which he previously pleaded guilty.
Cooper also ordered the man to pay $35,910 in restitution to the victim, Crown’s landlord. Crown burned the residence in which he had been living.
Crown must also register with the sheriff’s office as an arson offender.
• Leo Ulery Jr., 21, of 3045 County Road 52, Willow Wood, admitted community control sanctions violations and was sentenced to nine months in prison.
• Rockie Johnson, 49, of 260 Egbert Road, Portsmouth, was sentenced to four years CCS under intensive supervised probation for a third-degree count of possession of drugs, to which he previously pleaded guilty. Cooper also ordered the man to pay a $5,000 fine and suspended his driver’s license for one year.