Three plead guilty in Johnson County drug case

By TONY FYFFE

BSN Editor

PIKEVILLE — Three people indicted in 2021 in a Johnson County drug case have now pleaded guilty while a fourth was rearraigned Tuesday in federal court.

Charles Chandler, 53, of Tutor Key; Cory Johnson, 33, of Salyersville; and Jayshawn Robinson, 29, oif Pontiac, Mich., entered not-guilty pleas to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a methamphetamine mixture in Johnson and Magoffin counties from April 2021 through Aug. 12, 2021.

The pleas were entered during separate rearraignment hearings earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Pikeville.

A rearraignment hearing for Ashley Johnson, 35, of Salyersville, was held Tuesday, but the outcome was not known at press time.

According to Chandler’s plea agreement, law enforcement used a confidential informant to make controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Chandler on Feb. 28, 2020; March 6, 2020; March 20, 2020; and Aug. 2, 2021. The buys netted a total of 126 grams of the drug, the agreement says.

During a search of Chandler’s home on Aug. 12, 2021, more than 500 grams of methamphetamine and $18,819 in cash were found by officers, according to the plea agreement.

“Prior to the August 12, 2021 search, the Defendant had developed a relationship with multiple, related sources of supply of methamphetamine,” the agreement says. “Through this relationship, the Defendant regularly, and on multiple occasions, obtained large quantities of methamphetamine that he distributed within the Eastern District of Kentucky. By August 12, 2021, the Defendant had distributed more than 500 grams of methamphetamine that he had received through his relationship with these suppliers, who also provided the Defendant with the methamphetamine seized from his residence on August 12, 2021.”

Robinson was a methamphetamine and heroin supplier from Michigan who regularly distributed those drugs to other dealers in Johnson and Magoffin counties, according to Robinson’s plea agreement. Chandler had obtained his methamphetamine from Robinson, the agreement says.

“Later in the day on August 12, 2021, law enforcement intercepted another delivery of over 400 grams of actual methamphetamine and over 10 grams of heroin that an associate of the Defendant was attempting to deliver to Chandler,” the agreement says. “The Defendant and another associate traveled to Chandler’s residence on August 12, 2021. The Defendant and an associate intended to collect money that Chandler owed to the Defendant for prior deliveries of heroin and more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. However, when they arrived, law enforcement intercepted the Defendant, having already seized the more than 500 grams of methamphetamine and over $18,819 in United States currency from Chandler’s residence.”

Robinson, while incarcerated in the Pike County Detention Center, “made arrangements to purchase a substance containing heroin, fentanyl, and para-flurorofentanyl from two other inmates who had smuggled the substance in the jail,” the agreement says.

“The Defendant obtained some of this substance from the inmates and intended to distribute it,” the agreement said.

Cory Johnson was an “addict and user of methamphetamine” who worked with and assisted Robinson to distribute meth and heroin, his plea agreement says.

“For example, the Defendant would transport the Michigan-based supplier into the Eastern District of Kentucky to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, and to collect drug proceeds and payments,” the agreement says. “The Defendant primarily engaged in this activity in order to receive drugs that he could use. As part of his work with the Michigan-based supplier, the Defendant assisted the Michigan-based supplier in the distribution of more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.”

It was Cory Johnson who drove Robinson to Chandler’s residence on Aug. 21, 2021, the agreement says.

The three are scheduled to be sentenced in June.