Guilty plea made on four drug counts

COLUMBUS -- A 39-year-old Columbus man pleaded guilty to four drug charges Monday morning in connection with a city roundup last September of suspected methamphetamine dealers.

Douglas Holley pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of a controlled substance (meth) in Platte County District Court stemming from a cluster of drug deals during a 10-day period last May.

District Court Judge Robert Steinke scheduled Holley’s sentencing for 10 a.m. April 18.

Possession of a controlled substance is a Class IV felony, punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonment, $10,000 fine or both and no minimum sentence.

Holley was originally charged with four counts of delivery of a controlled substance, Class II felonies punishable by a maximum of 50 years imprisonment and a minimum of one year imprisonment.

Holley entered his guilty pleas to the reduced drug charges in a plea agreement with the Platte County Attorney’s Office.

The defendant admitted participating in four drug transactions in his Columbus apartment from May 22-31 with a confidential informant who was under surveillance and wearing a recording device.

Other defendants convicted during last fall’s arrests have received sentences ranging from intensive supervised probation to three to five years in prison.

Eight men and four women were arrested during a two-week period in September by officers from the SNARE task force.

The September arrest affidavits filed in the individual cases of the 12 defendants detailed informants meeting with the suspects at homes or in vehicles while wearing recording devices and making meth buys over a period stretching for several months.

Drug task force officials said the arrests are part of a long-term investigation that is ongoing with more arrests planned for the future.