Hillsboro man sentenced to 6 years in prison for trafficking meth in the vicinity of a juvenile

A Hillsboro man was sentenced to six years in prison last week after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Donald Elliott, 31, was indicted by a Highland County jury in June on 10 charges, including two counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine in the vicinity of a juvenile, both second-degree felonies; five counts of aggravated possession of methamphetamine, all third-degree felonies; and three counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, all third-degree felonies.

According to court records, Elliott pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to the two second-degree felony charges of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine in the vicinity of a juvenile, with the other eight charges dismissed.

For one of those counts, a bill of particulars alleged that in September 2022, Elliott sold 3.38 grams of meth to a confidential informant. The deal took place inside a camper with a juvenile present, the bill of particulars says.

Approximately five days later, Elliott was accused of again selling 3.01 grams of meth to a confidential informant at the same address. At the time of that deal, there were “two people under the age of 18” reportedly present.

After accepting Elliott’s guilty pleas, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Elliott to a mandatory term of three years on each count, running consecutively, for a minimum of six years. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, that sentence could be up to seven and a half years, according to the judgment entry. Elliott had jail time credit of 52 days.

In addition to his prison sentence, Elliott was ordered to pay $380 in restitution to the Highland County Task Force and another $100 in restitution jointly and severally with a co-defendant.