FRANKFORT, Ky. (May. 15, 2018) – Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Office of Special Prosecutions today announced a Casey County man has pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine and to being a persistent felony offender.
William E. Bullock III, 39, of Liberty, pleaded guilty May 14 in Casey Circuit Court to one count of trafficking a controlled substance, first degree, first offense, less than two grams of methamphetamine and to being a persistent felony offender in the second degree.
Bullock is facing seven years in prison, and he is scheduled to be sentenced June 11.
The Casey County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and Beshear’s Office of Special Prosecutions is handling the prosecution.
According to court records, the Casey County Sheriff’s Office found Bullock July 3, 2017, in possession of several small baggies containing methamphetamine packaged for individual sale and Bullock admitted to law enforcement that the methamphetamine was his.
“Protecting Kentucky’s citizens from drug traffickers and working to end the state’s drug epidemic is one of our top priorities in the Office of the Attorney General,” Beshear said. “I appreciate the hard work of the Casey County Sheriff’s Office and our Office of Special Prosecutions on this case.”
The Office of Special Prosecutions handling drug offenses is part of Beshear’s core mission to keep illegal drugs off the streets and away from Kentucky’s families.
In February, Beshear and his Office of Special Prosecutions announced that an Adair County woman was sentenced to seven years for making meth and endangering two minors in the process.
Since taking office Beshear has been working with local law enforcement and community leaders to host substance abuse awareness forums across the state. The office has also been instrumental in numerous drug related arrests, including working with federal authorities to arrest a fentanyl dealer whose drugs killed several Kentuckians.
Beshear is also working to hold drug companies who have contributed to the drug epidemic accountable. Last year, Beshear filed suit against drug manufacturer Endo Pharmaceuticals regarding its drug Opana ER. The suit alleges Endo violated state law and directly contributed to opioid related deaths and overdoses in Kentucky.
Beshear has also sued four national opioid distributors, Pennsylvania-based AmerisourceBergen, Ohio-based Cardinal Health, San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation and New Jersey pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Ortho-McNeil subsidiaries.