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Casey men charged in multi-state drug ring

May 02, 2008|TODD KLEFFMAN

LIBERTY - Two Casey County men have been accused as part of a multi-state drug ring that conspired to distribute more than a ton of marijuana over two years.

A federal grand jury in Bowling Green named Robert "Fritz" Sheene, 46, of Casey Creek Road and Ralph Michael Hughes, 37, of Bastin Creek Road among 14 people indicted for conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

The men were originally indicted in the Western District of U.S. District Court in November, but that indictment was kept under seal until last week while the federal Drug Enforcement Agency continued to investigate. A new, superseding indictment that added four co-defendants was handed up last week.

Sheene and Hughes have been free since posting unsecured bonds of $50,000 each, according to court records.

The others indicted are from Arizona, Colorado, Ohio and Oklahoma.

According to a press release from U.S. Attorney David L. Huber's office in Louisville, the defendants "conspired to distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana" between February 2005 and July 2007.

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A thousand kilograms equals 2,204 pounds and has a street value of more than $3 million, according to the press release.

If convicted, the defendants face prison terms between 10 years and life and fines up to $4 million.

The indictment also requests the forfeiture of about $335,000 in cash and two pieces of property allegedly used in the marijuana distribution. One piece of property is on Sam Black Road near the Mount Olive community in Casey County and the other is near Somerset in Pulaski County.

Sandy Focken, a media contact in Huber's office, declined to comment further about the case.

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