Leesburg woman sentenced on drug possession charge

A Leesburg woman has been sentenced to community control after pleading guilty to a third-degree felony drug possession charge.

Shannon R. James, 52, of Leesburg was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in September, as she was charged with aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a third-degree felony. The indictment alleged that on or about May 11, 2023, James “did knowingly obtain, possess or use” meth “in an amount equal to or exceeding bulk amount but less than five times bulk amount.”

According to a bill of particulars, a sheriff’s deputy responded to “a report of a suspicious person” in a vehicle in Highland County on that date. While she was arrested on a separate charge, deputies allegedly found “a small baggie containing a crystal substance and a dirty brownish glass pipe” among her belongings. They also allegedly found another “clear baggie with a crystal substance” inside the vehicle. 

After testing by BCI, it was determined that the first baggie contained .10 gram of meth, while the second one had 7.74 grams of meth.

James pleaded guilty to the charge in November. During a sentencing hearing Jan. 3, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced her to three years of community control and ordered her to successfully complete a recommended treatment program.