'Several pounds of meth,' heroin seized in Ohio Co. Drug network busted, including Hartford man with 6 convictions last 8 years.

A two month investigation by the Ohio County Sheriff’s Office, Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force and other agencies resulted in the arrest of three men “responsible for distributing large amounts of methamphetamine” in Ohio, McLean and Muhlenberg counties, according to Ohio County Sheriff Tracy Beatty.

(One of the men arrested, 37-year-old Joshua Morehead, of Hartford, has six drug convictions, one theft conviction and one firearm conviction since 2013, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.)

Beatty said that on Wednesday, police “conducted a controlled delivery of methamphetamine that resulted in the seizure of approximately one pound of methamphetamine.” On Thursday, law enforcement “conducted a controlled delivery of methamphetamine and heroin that resulted in the seizure of several pounds of methamphetamine and an amount of heroin,” Beatty said. He added that a stolen firearm was also recovered.

As a result, police arrested 45-year-old Larry E. Coffee, of Louisville, and 44-year-old Randy Sulzer, of Bardstown, in addition to Morehead.

Sulver and Coffee were charged with two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance (methamphetamine, heroin). Morehead was charged with possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and receiving stolen property (firearm).

All three men were lodged in the Ohio County Detention Center. “More charges will be forthcoming in multiple counties,” according to Beatty. Morehead is no longer listed as an inmate at the facility.

The following agencies assisted in the investigation and arrests: McLean and Muhlenberg County Sheriff’s Office, Beaver Dam Police Department, Hartford Police Department, and Kentucky State Police.

Morehead’s long track record

Between 2014 and 2021, Morehead was convicted twice, once in Daviess County and once in Ohio County, for trafficking in a controlled substance (methamphetamine); possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) in Ohio County; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in Ohio County; theft by unlawful taking in Ohio County; and criminal facilitation of manufacturing methamphetamine in Ohio County.

His latest conviction came in February 2021 in Ohio County for possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine). He is on probation until 2033.

Since 2013, Morehead has been arrested over a dozen times on various drug trafficking and drug possession charges, along with theft, persistent felony offender, manufacturing methamphetamine, escape, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charges.

He’s been arrested in Ohio, Hardin, Daviess, Christian, Muhlenberg, and Breckinridge counties.

In January 2020, Morehead walked away from a halfway house in Louisville before being captured in 200 block of Howard Street, in McHenry, only days later.

(Headline photo: Drugs, gun seized by police, Joshua Morehead)