Hillsboro man sentenced on meth trafficking charge
A Hillsboro man indicted earlier this year in connection with a Highland County Task Force drug trafficking investigation was sentenced recently to a year and a half in prison.
Charles Lancaster, 35, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in May on four third-degree felony counts, including two counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine and two counts of aggravated possession of methamphetamine. According to court records, Lancaster pleaded guilty July 17 to one of the trafficking counts, with the other three charges dismissed.
For that charge, a bill of particulars alleged that on or about Jan. 18, a confidential informant (CI) working with the Highland County Task Force made arrangements to purchase meth from Lancaster behind a Hillsboro business.
The transaction allegedly took place under surveillance by Task Force officers. According to the bill of particulars, Lancaster sold 6.89 grams of meth to the CI on that date.
After accepting Lancaster’s guilty plea, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Lancaster to 18 months in prison, with jail time credit of three days. Lancaster was also ordered to pay $280 in restitution to the Task Force.
Lancaster was admitted into the Correctional Reception Center in Orient on July 24, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
As previously reported, local law enforcement executed search warrants and made multiple arrests in Hillsboro, Greenfield and Rocky Fork Lake areas May 9, after a Highland County grand jury handed down 15 indictments in connection with Highland County Task Force investigations.
The charges were the result of ongoing work of the Highland County Task Force and local county law enforcement partners to stop drug trafficking in the area. Highland County Task Force, Highland County Sheriff’s Office, Hillsboro Police Department and Greenfield Police Department officers participated in the May 9 arrest roundup.
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