‘GUNSHOTS FIRED’ COMPLAINT LEADS INSTEAD TO DRUG TRAFFICKING CHARGES

A complaint of gunshots fired near a house in the very early morning hours of December 31 led to the discovery of several bags containing suspected methamphetamine and other drugs and the arrest of a Thelma, KY. man, according to Johnson County court documents.

The arrest citation report said that Johnson County Sheriff Deputy Isaac Owens, as well as Kentucky State Police Post 9 Trooper Gregory T. Whitson,responded to the complaint at the residence shortly after midnight, and that  deputy Owens made contact with Brian Charles, 40, of Buskirk Drive, off of Lively Lane, of Thelma, KY.

Deputy Owens wrote in the arrest citation that he asked Brian Charles if he could come inside the home to make sure no one had been shot; to which Brian Charles gave permission for both deputy Owwenss and trooper Whitson to enter the premises. 

Further on the citation, deputy Owens stated that he opened the garage door and observed what appeared to be a baggie containing a white, crystalline substance, believed to be methamphetamine, lying in plain sight.

Brian Charles told deputy Owens and trooper Whitson that he didn’t know it was there, but his wife said he had been in trouble for drugs in the past, and she gave officers permission to conduct a more thorough search. 

That search turned up and revealed another baggie containing more of the substance, several other bags containing a residue, several marijuana “dab” cartridges, a zip lock bag containing a green, leafy substance believed to be marijuana, and three other zip lock bags containing white round pills labeled Lorazepam 1 milligram, Lorazepam 0.5 milligram and Clonazepam 1 milligram, several sets of digital scales, & two glass pipes containing a residue of the suspected methamphetamine.

Charles was arrested and is facing on the following charges of:

• TRAFFICKING IN CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, 1ST DEGREE, 1ST OFFENSE – ( < 2 GRAMS METHAMPHETAMINE),
• TRAFFICKING IN LEGEND DRUGS 1ST OFFENSE,
• TRAFFICKING IN MARIJUANA ( LESS THAN 8 OZ.) 1ST OFFENSE,
• PRESCRIPTION CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE NOT PROPER CONTAIN 1ST OFFENSE,
• DRUG PARAPHERNALIA – BUY/POSSESS.

Brian Charles was transported to and was lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville, where he still remained as of Tuesday night, January 9. A preliminary hearing in Johnson County District Court for Brian Charles’ case was set for Wednesday, January 10.

Law enforcement officials reported that Brian Charles is currently under indictment for trafficking in meth, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl in Shelby County, KY., after he was pulled over on September 21, 2022, by a Simpsonville Police Department officer for running a stop sign and police found multiple drugs, consisting of meth, heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and prescription pills, in the car that Brian Charles was driving.

Brian Charles is tentatively scheduled to enter a plea in that case later this month. However, Brian Charles’s newest legal troubles may likely end up leading to the scuttling and deep-sixing of that plea deal.