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A federal drug trafficking investigation has resulted in the arrest of three Whitley County residents so far on drug trafficking charges, and has implicated former Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge and former Williamsburg Police Chief Denny Shelley in purchasing pain pills off the black market.
An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in London Wednesday also accuses Hodge of trading drugs for a sheriff’s department shotgun less than a month before he left office on Jan. 2, and of offering to sell drugs to a confidential informant after he left office.
The affidavit also accuses Hodge of hanging out at a residence where drugs were allegedly sold while he was still sheriff and shortly after he left office.
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Todd Tremaine signed the affidavit on March 7 in support of warrants to charge six Whitley County residents with drug dealing.
Three of those residents, Doyle Standford "Stan-Boy" Fritts, his brother, Charles F. Fritts Jr., and Charles Fritts daughter, Nikita Nichole Evans, made their initial appearance in U.S. District Court in London Wednesday afternoon before Judge Hanly Ingram.
On Feb. 7, a confidential informant told Tremaine that they saw Hodge at Charles Fritts residence on Jan. 30 engaged in what they believed was a drug transaction, according to the affidavit.
The confidential informant alleged that Hodge offered to sell them a 30 mg oxycodone pill, but the confidential informant turned down the offer because they wanted another type of drug instead, according to the affidavit.
The confidential informant also allegedly saw Hodge leave the pill bottle with Fritts, who told him, "give me a couple of hours, and I’ll get rid of them," according to the affidavit.
The confidential informant also told police that Jason Kersey told the informant that he and Charles Fritts helped Hodge "get rid of all the firearms that were missing from the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department," the affidavit stated.
In December 2009, a burglary was reported at the sheriff’s department and several firearms were missing from evidence.
When current Sheriff Colan Harrell took office on Jan. 2, the department had only nine handguns, one rifle, and no shotguns, Harrell said last week.
On Feb. 7, Kersey also spoke to the confidential informant about the irony of seeing Hodge at "the dope house," which was believed a reference to Fritts’ 260 Ted Ball Road residence, the affidavit stated.
On Feb. 21, 2011, the confidential informant allegedly purchased oxycodone from Charles Fritts, and saw Hodge sitting on the couch at Fritts’ residence before the transaction occurred.
An undercover Kentucky State Police Detective, who drove the informant to the residence, observed Hodge leave the residence and drive off in a truck, according to the affidavit.
Two other confidential witnesses told police they saw Hodge at Charles Fritts’ residence in October or November 2010, which is while he was still sheriff, and again in January 2011. Charles Fritts allegedly informed one of the witnesses that he sold pills to Hodge, according to the affidavit.
Evans’ boyfriend, James "Jeremy" Meradith, also lived at Charles Fritts’ residence. Two confidential witnesses told police that Meradith sold them Oxycodone on two or three occasions when Charles Fritts wasn’t present, according to the affidavit.
During a March 3 interview Meradith had with Tremaine at the Whitley County Detention Center, he claimed to have information on corrupt law enforcement officers.
Meradith told Tremaine that Hodge would trade either him or Meradith’s "money guy" Lorcet in exchange for oxycodone, which Hodge preferred, Tremaine wrote in the affidavit.
In February 2011, Meradith told investigators that he personally dropped off five oxycodone tablets to Hodge and left them in Hodge’s mailbox. Hodge reportedly left the money for the pills in a trashcan, according to the affidavit.
Meradith claims that he started making runs to Jellico to obtain oxycodone for Hodge starting around December 2009, which was while Hodge was still sheriff, according to the affidavit.
He also claimed to have an "ace in the hole," in the form of a black duty shotgun that Hodge allegedly traded him in December 2010, less than a month before he left office, in exchange for three 30-mg oxycodone tablets, according to the affidavit.
He claimed to still have the shotgun, which he couldn’t trade because no one would take it knowing where it came from, the affidavit stated.
The affidavit didn’t indicate whether Meradith turned the gun over to authorities.
Meradith told investigators that Hodge gave a second shotgun to somebody that he knew, according to the affidavit.
In November, a special called Whitley County Grand Jury concluded a five-month investigation indicting Hodge on 18 counts of abuse of public trust and three counts of tampering with physical evidence.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble estimated that about $350,000 is either unaccounted for or were checks written to Hodge from the sheriff’s department’s drug and alcohol account for "drug buy money."
The indictment further alleged that Hodge converted seized guns for his own use, including three that he sold to a local attorney, and two that he gave to his chief deputy.
Last month, the Whitley County Fiscal Court authorized the Whitley County Attorney Paul Winchester to pursue action with Hodge’s bonding company to recover over $200,000 in funds that state auditors said were missing or unaccounted for.
Shelley implicated
Meradith also claimed to have supplied former Williamsburg Police Chief Denny Shelley with 80mg Oxycontin tables on a daily basis for about eight months in spring 2010 before Shelley started buying them from Meradith’s source of supply, a person he didn’t identify for police, according to the affidavit.
Meradith claimed to have supplied Shelley with five to six Oxycontin tablets a day during that time, according to the affidavit.
At the time, Shelley worked as a narcotics detective at the sheriff’s department under Hodge.
Shelley resigned as Williamsburg Police Chief on Aug. 20, 2007, following a suspicious result on a random drug test the prior month.
An April 4, 2007, a drug test indicated Shelley tested positive for methadone, according to a drug screen results letter sent to the city.
On April 30, Mayor Roddy Harrison suspended Shelley for two weeks without pay, and Shelley was required to take another test prior to reinstatement in addition to several random tests to follow, Harrison indicated on a handwritten notation on the results letter.
Shelley was tested again on July 18, 2007. The test results were negative, but a memo indicates that the specimen had been diluted and it was suggested that he be tested again, according to a different drug screen results letter sent to the city.
Neither Hodge nor Shelley has been charged in connection with the federal investigation. Shelley has not been charged criminally in connection with any investigations.
Two held without bond
During Wednesday’s nearly hour long hearing, Ingram ordered both Doyle Fritts and Jerry Fritts held without bond pending a detention hearing, which he set for Tuesday, March 15 at 1:30 p.m.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Samuel Dotson didn’t ask for Evans to be held without bond prior to trial, and Ingram agreed to release her from custody.
Evans and Doyle Fritts are charged with conspiring with others known and unknown to distribute a quantity of pills containing oxycodone. Charles Fritts is accused of conspiring with others known and unknown to distribute a quantity of pills containing hydrocodone.
Charles Fritts is also accused of distributing Oxycodone pills on Feb. 16, Feb. 18, Feb. 21 and Feb. 24.
Doyle Fritts is accused on Feb. 25 and March 4 of distributing Oxycodone.
On Feb. 15, Evans is accused of selling pills containing hydrocodone on two separate occasions.
The hydrocodone related charges carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, and up to a $500,000 fine. A prior felony drug conviction increases those penalties to 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine.
The oxycodone related charges carry a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine. A prior felony drug conviction increases those penalties to a maximum of 30 years in prison and up to a $2 million fine.
All three defendants waived their rights to a preliminary hearing. This means federal officials have up to 30 days to get an indictment from a federal grand jury.
