Man pleads guilty in drug case
A Butler man pleaded guilty to drug distribution in Butler County Court on Wednesday.
Christopher L. Ray, 44, pleaded guilty to felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance before Judge William Shaffer.
The plea agreement calls for a sentence of one month to one year in Butler County Prison, with credit for time served and immediate parole upon sentencing.
He will also be ordered to pay a fine and undergo a drug and alcohol assessment.
He is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 20.
Ray was initially charged with felony possession with intent, 10 misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and eight misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia after an incident at the Longhorn Corral Saloon and Motel on Route 422 in Franklin Township on Sept. 2, where police said Ray was found with more than 300 prescription pills, crack cocaine and other contraband including dozens of crack pipes and a digital scale.
State police filed the charges after being called to the motel for a report of a suspicious man, according to court documents. There, they found Ray in the doorway of a room. In the room, a trooper noticed what appeared to be two crack pipes on the bed and a third pipe on a table by the television.
On a mini refrigerator, police also saw a small baggie holding what they believed to be crack, documents said.
Police then learned that Ray was wanted on a bench warrant.
Nancy A. Hinchberger, 50, of Butler, who was sleeping on the bed, was also found to be wanted by Butler Township police on an arrest warrant for several unrelated misdemeanor drug charges, police said.
A later search of the room turned up unmarked medicine bottles that contained a total of 342 prescription pills, several pieces of crack, crack pipes, a scale, a large amount of suspected drug packaging materials, five cell phones and $130 in currency, police said.
Police said Hinchberger was later searched and found with suspected crack and a crack pipe.
She admitted that she had gone to the motel room, documents said, “to purchase crack cocaine at $80 per gram.” She said she smoked the drug and went to sleep there.
She was also charged and is awaiting court proceedings.
