FCHS graduation 2008

A sea of graduation caps filled the gymnasium of Fleming County High School Sunday afternoon, June 1, as 146 seniors received their diplomas. A full page of photographs is in the June 4 issue of the Gazette.

Crawford pleads guilty

A man accused of trafficking in drugs has entered a guilty plea in Fleming Circuit Court.

Billy Crawford, 53, denied a plea offer May 29, according to his attorney Tom Griffiths. However as the trial began Tuesday, June 3, Crawford entered a guilty plea to two counts of conspiracy to traffic pills and one count of possession of a handgun by a felon. Griffiths said the plea cancels three trials scheduled for Crawford. Because Crawford rejected the plea offer, it is up to Judge Stockton Wood to determine the sentence for Crawford.

“The judge gave a five minute speech announcing the plea,” Griffiths said. “He said Crawford had had a change of heart over the weekend.”

Crawford faces up to 20 years on each charge. The sentencing date has been set July 2, according to Griffiths.

Crawford was arrested last year in a drug bust near Ringos Mill, which resulted in three arrests and three indictments. According to Fleming County Sheriff Scotty Royse, members of the Fleming County Sheriff's Department together with members of the Buffalo Trace Narcotics Task Force arrested two people Aug. 2 for trafficking in controlled substances. Jason M. Grizzell, 28, of Waynesburg and Stephen M. Lewis, 24, of Carter County, formerly of Ewing, were both arrested

Officers intercepted the vehicle coming back from Florida with drugs from the Ft. Lauderdale, Miami area and seized a large quantity of Oxycodone and Xanax, a bottle full of Endocet, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The men also had several thousand dollars on them at the time of their arrest. The three were indicted by the Fleming County grand jury Aug. 3. According to the indictment, Grizzell was charged with one count of complicity to trafficking in a controlled substance, first degree when he transported Steven Lewis and the drug Hydrocodone, a Schedule II narcotic, so Lewis could sell the drug. The felony charge carries a penalty of five to 10 years imprisonment. Lewis was indicted on three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, first degree when he knowingly and unlawfully sold Oxycodone, a Schedule II narcotic, according to the grand jury.