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Jason Price
A former Whitley district judge is now on the other side of the law after being arrested Thursday afternoon for drug trafficking.
Williamsburg Police Detective Bobby Freeman arrested Jason Paul Price, 38, of Williamsburg, about 4:15 p.m. Thursday charging him with first-degree first-offense trafficking in a controlled substance and lodged him in the Whitley County Detention Center.
"We’ve been conducting an investigation for a while into drug trafficking by him," said Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird. "He was accepting drugs as payment for legal fees."
Bird said the investigation had been ongoing for about one year and that it came to a head when police were able to arrange a drug transaction between Price and a cooperating source Thursday.
"We kind of got a break recently with some developing information, which expedited our investigation and led to the arrest today," Bird said.
The deal took place between 4 and 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the parking lot at Taco Bell in Williamsburg when Price allegedly accepted 15 30-mg Oxycodone pills as a $500 payment for legal fees, Bird said.
After the exchange, authorities immediately arrested Price.
Freeman is leading the investigation into Thursdayís alleged drug transaction.
Bird is leading the investigation into the other aspects of the drug trafficking case.
"Additional charges will be presented to a Whitley County Grand Jury on Mr. Price," Bird added.
Price served as Whitley district judge from late 2008 when he won a special election against incumbent Fred White only to lose to White during a rematch in late 2010.
Williamsburg K-9 Officer Brandon Prewitt and Officer Ashley Wampler assisted at the scene Thursday.
No one else has been charged in connection with the investigation.
