Johnson man seeks rearraignment in federal drug case

By TONY FYFFE

BSN Editor

PIKEVILLE — A Johnson County man indicted in September on federal methamphetamine charges filed a motion Monday for rearraignment.

The attorney for Sean Holys Tharp, 35, of Hager Hill, said in the motion that Tharp had reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

A rearraignment is when a defendant who has pleaded guilty changes his plea to guilty.

Tharp was charged in a five-count indictment in September with conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and distributing a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of the drug.

Tharp conspired with others to “knowingly and intentionally” distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in April, according to the indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury last Wednesday and unsealed Friday.

Tharp also distributed the drug on July 16, July 23, Aug. 4 and Aug. 13, the indictment says.

Federal authorities seized $19,220 in cash from Tharp on Sept. 10, which “constitutes proceeds obtained directly and indirectly as a result of the commission” of the crime, according to a forfeiture allegation in the indictment.

Members of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, working with Operation UNITE and the Drug Enforcement Administration office in London, arrested on a federal arrest warrant. He was lodged in the Pike County Detention Center on a federal detainer.

The indictment was the result of a four-month investigation, the sheriff’s office said on its Facebook page in September.