Boone County’s top law enforcement official said he wants to send a message to drug traffickers regarding the potentially deadly consequences of their actions.
“If you traffic drugs in Boone County and that trafficking relates in an overdose death – you will be charged with a homicide,” said Louis Kelly, the commonwealth’s attorney for Boone County.
With this goal in mind, on Tuesday, Kelly requested the Boone County Fiscal Court for funding for a full-time assistant commonwealth’s attorney within his office. The court approved the request.
“This would be an expenditure of $115,750.83 for this year, and should you fully fund it for another year, it would be a total of $138,920,” Kelly said, adding the cost includes retirement, FICA and life insurance.
The personnel request stems from the volume of the office’s drug cases, which Kelly said would be one of the hired individual’s prime areas of focus.
“As of today, just for calendar year 2023, we’ve already obtained 556 convictions,” Kelly said. “Of those, 216 are for drug possession and 70 are for felony trafficking…more than half of our cases directly involve drugs.”
The position would devote an extensive amount of time to the office’s Rocket Docket program, which Kelly said targets swift resolution of drug possession cases to address case load time and incarceration space and aiding trafficker prosecution when overdoses occur.
If there is an overdose, the responding deputy or the coroner is dispatched, and they can indicate the source of the trafficking that led to the overdose, Kelly said.
“And when we feel that we’ve got enough information, we’re charging them,” Kelly said. “As of right now, we’ll charge them with manslaughter in the second degree and trafficking. We’ve had four cases this year. Of those four cases, two have already plead guilty and served 15-year sentences.”
Those targeted for trafficking fentanyl in Boone County should also think twice about their actions, Kelly said.
“We appreciate your work and keep that reputation of don’t sell drugs in Boone County,” Judge/Executive Gary W. Moore said to Kelly after the court’s vote of approval.