Post by KC on Jun 14, 2006 22:21:24 GMT -5
June 14, 2006 - VANCEBURG -- A former Lewis County deputy pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in Lewis Circuit Court Monday.
Officer Jeffrey Robert Ginn, 54, entered a guilty plea on two counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, two counts of second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and one count each of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of less than 8 ounces of marijuana.
Sentencing for Ginn will be held July 7, according to Lewis County Deputy Dwayne Stone. Ginn received six years on each first-degree trafficking charge; five years on each second-degree trafficking charge and 12 months on the remaining charges. All sentences are to run concurrently for a total of six years.
Ginn served as a deputy from 1982 to 1998 under former sheriffs Jeffrey Cooper and Virgil Cole, leaving when current Sheriff Bill Lewis was elected to his first term.
The former deputy was one of numerous subjects of a countywide investigation of drug activity conducted by the sheriff's office during 2004.
Stone said Carl Marshall, who was arrested at the same time as Ginn, chose to go to trial instead of accepting a plea bargain. He was convicted last month and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
According to the indictment handed down in December, 2004, one of the second-degree trafficking charges against Ginn stemmed from another alleged Oxycontin deal that occurred later that month.
The three other charges leveled against Ginn originated from alleged drug activity conducted on Nov. 24, 2004, the date he and 14 others were arrested by sheriff's officials.
Ginn possessed 56 Lorcet tablets, Adapex and other controlled substances, a homemade pipe, aluminum foil, baking soda, marijuana and several firearms when he was taken into custody, deputies said.
"We took about $3,000 in cash from this raid and several fire arms, which will be forfeited to the sheriff's office," Stone said. "We want to make an impression on dealers that we will not only take their money, we will take their homes and vehicles."
The marijuana possession charge is a class A misdemeanor, while three of the four trafficking charges are class C felonies.
One of the second-degree trafficking charges is considered a class D felony, as is the possession of drug paraphernalia charge.
Officer Jeffrey Robert Ginn, 54, entered a guilty plea on two counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, two counts of second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and one count each of possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of less than 8 ounces of marijuana.
Sentencing for Ginn will be held July 7, according to Lewis County Deputy Dwayne Stone. Ginn received six years on each first-degree trafficking charge; five years on each second-degree trafficking charge and 12 months on the remaining charges. All sentences are to run concurrently for a total of six years.
Ginn served as a deputy from 1982 to 1998 under former sheriffs Jeffrey Cooper and Virgil Cole, leaving when current Sheriff Bill Lewis was elected to his first term.
The former deputy was one of numerous subjects of a countywide investigation of drug activity conducted by the sheriff's office during 2004.
Stone said Carl Marshall, who was arrested at the same time as Ginn, chose to go to trial instead of accepting a plea bargain. He was convicted last month and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
According to the indictment handed down in December, 2004, one of the second-degree trafficking charges against Ginn stemmed from another alleged Oxycontin deal that occurred later that month.
The three other charges leveled against Ginn originated from alleged drug activity conducted on Nov. 24, 2004, the date he and 14 others were arrested by sheriff's officials.
Ginn possessed 56 Lorcet tablets, Adapex and other controlled substances, a homemade pipe, aluminum foil, baking soda, marijuana and several firearms when he was taken into custody, deputies said.
"We took about $3,000 in cash from this raid and several fire arms, which will be forfeited to the sheriff's office," Stone said. "We want to make an impression on dealers that we will not only take their money, we will take their homes and vehicles."
The marijuana possession charge is a class A misdemeanor, while three of the four trafficking charges are class C felonies.
One of the second-degree trafficking charges is considered a class D felony, as is the possession of drug paraphernalia charge.