Drug case ends in guilty plea

Published 12:00 am Sunday, August 9, 2015

A Keego Harbor, Michigan, man was found guilty on Friday of aggravated trafficking in drugs following a two-day jury trial in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

Charles Shelby, 28, will now be sentenced on charges of aggravated trafficking in drugs within 1,000 feet of a school, a first degree felony, and tampering with evidence, a third degree felony.

“The jury further found that the $2,651 in cash found on his person at the time of Shelby’s arrest is to be forfeited to the state of Ohio,” according to a release from Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney Brigham Anderson.

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The charges followed an investigation by the Ironton Police Department and the Lawrence Drug and Major Crime Task Force after they were called to the Holiday Inn Express earlier this year over an altercation between Shelby and a woman.

That is when officers found 159 oxycodone tablets with a street value of $5,000, the cash and marijuana.

“We appreciate the jury’s verdict” Anderson said. “The evidence was overwhelming. He was staying in a hotel in Ironton and trafficking. We are happy with the verdict.”

Shelby will be sentenced on Wednesday. The maximum penalty is 14 years and a mandatory $10,000 fine.