PIKEVILLE – A Magoffin County man was found guilty via a jury trial on a federal drug charge last month.
After two days of trial and only 30 minutes of deliberation, a federal jury unanimously found Daniel Jackson, 57, of Salyersville, guilty on the charge of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance (methamphetamine and fentanyl), 50 grams or more.
Jackson was originally arrested in February of this year after a traffic stop by the Magoffin County Sheriff’s Office yielded large quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine, both Schedule II controlled substances.
He was federally indicted on the charge in May and has been held at the Pike County Detention Center since June, where he remains at press time.
Since the jury found he had 50 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine, he is facing not less than 5 years and not more than 40 years of imprisonment, not more than a $5 million fine, and at least 4 years supervised release, plus a mandatory special assessment of $100. A sentencing hearing is slated for December 5, 2024, in Pikeville.
Magoffin County Sheriff Bill Meade told the Salyersville Independent, “This conviction is a result of a traffic stop. This wasn’t a controlled buy, but just the results of good law enforcement work of my deputies’ skills and the K-9. We have several more traffic cases that will be going into the federal court system soon, and our goal is to make sure we’re aggressively going after the drug problem in this community. We don’t have to have recorded transactions for a conviction – we can get convictions through traffic stops and this is evidence of that.”
While Meade couldn’t elaborate on ongoing investigations, he was able to confirm that he expects more indictments to be handed down in the coming months.
He also reminded the public that they are always welcoming any information to help combat the drug problem, noting that people can remain anonymous.
“I would tell the people of the county everything is moving along very well,” Meade said. “We still intend to combat the drug problem aggressively and I would say to anyone who has any information about the drug activity in Magoffin County, please call the Magoffin County Sheriff’s Office. Give us the information. We’re not interested in names or anything like that, we just want the information.”
The Magoffin County Sheriff’s Office phone number is 606-349-2914.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
