Butler man sentenced to state prison in drug cases
A Butler man pleaded guilty Tuesday to drug delivery in two cases which included selling heroin to a police informant, and was immediately sentenced to state prison.
Claude T. Taylor III, 23, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance before President Judge Thomas Doerr in Butler County Court.
He was sentenced to 15 to 36 months in a state correctional facility, as well as the payment of court costs.
Taylor was initially charged with felony possession with intent, criminal use of a communication facility, and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after an incident April 2, 2015.
State police obtained a felony arrest warrant in February 2017, after Taylor sold an unspecified number of stamp bags of heroin to a police informant for $150. The deal, which was set up by phone, happened at Chestnut and Race streets in Butler.
Taylor was later released on his own recognizance.
He was later charged with three felony counts of possession with intent, two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia after an incident at an apartment on West Quarry Street Aug. 17, 2017.
Butler County Drug Task Force filed the charges after an investigation into Taylor's narcotics trafficking, which included at least two controlled drug buys in Butler, that began in early August.
During the raid of Taylor's apartment, he was arrested after police found 14.25 grams of raw heroin in a single bag, 6.3 grams of crack also in a single bag and 6.2 ounces of marijuana in eight baggies.
Additionally, officers recovered $1,304 in currency, several digital scales and marijuana grinders and three cell phones.
Along with Taylor, his live-in girlfriend, a toddler and Michael Lee Hutchinson, 22, of Butler, a suspected associate of the defendant, were at the apartment.
Hutchinson was arrested on two probation violation warrants and found with a small plastic baggie containing one gram of suspected heroin in one of his pants pockets.
After a search warrant of Hutchinson's phone, police said he was using it for drug trafficking. He was then charged with felony counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and criminal use of a communication facility, and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance.
Hutchinson continues to be held in the Butler County Prison on $150,000 bail pending further court proceedings.
