Source: United States Department of Justice News
Charges Include Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking
Bowling Green, KY – A federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned an indictment on August 10, 2022, charging Jack Herrod and Maleana Wilson with possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and charging Herrod with firearms offenses.
According to court documents, on February 6, 2022, in Warren County, KY, Herrod, 59, and Wilson, 60, both of Bowling Green, possessed with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Herrod also possessed a Heritage Manufacturing Inc. .22 caliber revolver as a convicted felon and in furtherance of his drug trafficking. Herrod had previously been convicted of the felony offense of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in case number 3:01-CR-30071.
Herrod and Wilson are charged with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting each other in that crime. Herrod is also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The defendants made their initial court appearance yesterday before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.
If convicted, Herrod faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and Wilson faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the ATF Louisville Field Division, Tommy Loving, Director of the Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force, and Chief Michael Delaney of the Bowling Green Police Department made the announcement.
The ATF, the Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force, and the Bowling Green Police Department are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Yurchisin II of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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