Hillsboro man sentenced on meth trafficking, RSP charges
A Hillsboro man was sentenced to a year and a half in prison recently after pleading guilty to charges in two separate cases in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
As previously reported, Ernest D. Jones, 60, was indicted in February and charged with aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, a fourth-degree felony; and aggravated possession of methamphetamine, a fifth-degree felony. Jones’ charges were among 19 indictments handed down as the result of a Highland County Task Force drug investigation, “Operation Fetty Stop.”
Jones was separately charged via bill of information in April with receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony.
According to court records, Jones pleaded guilty April 3 to aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine and the receiving stolen property charge, both fourth-degree felonies. The possession charge was dismissed.
For those counts, it is alleged that on or about Sept. 14, 2023, Jones sold 2.07 grams of meth at his home to a confidential informant working with the Highland County Task Force. It was also alleged that on or about Feb. 14, 2024, Jones “did receive, retain or dispose of” a Mazda motor vehicle belonging to another individual, while “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe said property had been obtained through the commission of a theft offense.”
According to Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins, “as we were serving the indictment on” the drug charges, “the stolen property” in the bill of information “was discovered.”
After accepting Jones’ guilty pleas, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Jones to nine months in prison on the drug trafficking charge, with 23 days of jail time credit. Jones was also ordered to pay $40 in restitution to the Highland County Task Force.
For the receiving stolen property, Jones was sentenced to another nine months, consecutive to the nine-month sentence in the drug case with no jail time credit, for a total of 18 months in prison.
Jones was admitted into the Correctional Reception Center in Orient on April 9, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
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