Lynchburg man sentenced to 5 years in prison for trafficking meth
A Lynchburg man indicted on multiple charges this September in connection with a Highland County Task Force drug investigation has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Bryce Ballein, 31, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in September, with his eight charges including four counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, one first-degree felony, two second-degree felonies and one third-degree felony; three counts of aggravated possession of methamphetamine, two second-degree felonies and one fifth degree felony; and one count of theft by deception, a fifth-degree felony. The indictment was initially made secret.
According to court records, Ballein pleaded guilty Dec. 13 to two second-degree felony counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, with the remaining six charges dismissed.
For those two counts, the indictment alleged that on or about Nov. 18 and Nov. 19, 2022, Ballein “did knowingly sell or offer to sell” meth “in an amount equal to or exceeding five times bulk amount but less than 50 times bulk amount.”
After Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss accepted Ballein’s guilty pleas, he heard from Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins. She asked Coss to follow the recommendation in the plea agreement of a five-year sentence and also spoke about the case.
“We do appreciate the efficient nature in which the case was handled,” Collins said. “Mr. Ballein came in very quickly and took full responsibility for his actions. I have to say, I was disappointed when Investigator [Randy] Sanders brought me this case because I’d seen Bryce out, and he was doing so well. The fact that he went down this path again is very disappointing.”
Judge Coss sentenced Ballein to a mandatory three years on one count, consecutive to a mandatory two years on the second count, for a total of five years, mandatory, in prison. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, that sentence could be up to six and a half years in prison. Ballein was also ordered to pay $2,220 in restitution to the Highland County Task Force.
That five-year sentence was also ordered to run consecutively to an already imposed sentence from Clinton County Common Pleas Court. According to court records, Ballein pleaded guilty Aug. 11 to two third-degree felony counts of grand theft and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Ballein has been incarcerated in the London Correctional Institution since Aug. 14.