King George man sentenced to 15 years for heroin distribution
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- Published on Wednesday, 19 December 2012 00:50
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A King George man who sold heroin to an undercover informant on three separate occasions, while working for a private contractor who was constructing the new sheriff’s office, has been sentenced in King George Circuit Court to 15 years in prison, with 11 years suspended.
Kenneth A. Keene, 47, was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge J. Martin Bass after entering a plea of no contest to three separate charges of distribution of a controlled substance. Keene was arrested in February after selling heroin to an undercover informant.
“Prosecuting drug dealers is very important to law enforcement in King George County,” said King George Commonwealth’s Attorney Keri Gusmann. “Selling heroin leads to addiction. Drug addicts will do everything they can to feed their addiction. Drug dealers destroy individual lives and families, leaving a tremendous impact on the entire King George community.”
The informant is this case was working for the King George Sheriff’s office, as a part of a narcotics task force coordinated by Virginia State Police, and officers were able to capture Keene on audio and video as he sold heroin to the informant three separate times,
“We take distribution of drugs very seriously,” said King George Sheriff Steve Dempsey said. “We have narcotics detectives participating in two different task forces and we will continue to investigate these crimes, make arrests and seize narcotics as long as this activity is taking place in our county.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Keene had his driver’s license suspended, was placed on probation for the full term of the sentence and was ordered to undergo substance abuse rehabilitation. A hearing was scheduled for Jan. 24 on whether on not to revoke probation Keene had been given after a previous conviction.
Richard Leggitt
