A man convicted of meth and heroin dealing last April was sentenced to 45 years in prison last week in DeKalb Criminal Court. Judge Wesley Bray sentenced Owens as a range III offender including 30 years in one case and 15 years in the other to run consecutively. He must serve at least 45% of the term before becoming eligible for parole.
A jury of six men and six women found 42-year-old Michael Chad Owens guilty as charged in the four-count indictment, including one count each of sale and delivery of heroin and one count each of sale and delivery of methamphetamine. The jury fined Owens a total of $90,000, including $40,000 for sale of heroin, $15,000 for delivery of heroin, $20,000 for sale of methamphetamine, and $15,000 for delivery of heroin.
Owens was indicted in June 2020 as a result of an undercover drug investigation conducted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.
“From the testimony at trial of Chief Deputy Brian Williams and Detective Stephen Barrett, they were contacted by a confidential informant which they have used in the past and she indicated to them that she had access to Owens and that he was selling heroin and methamphetamine. At that point they used that confidential informant to conduct a controlled purchase of heroin on June 21, 2019 and the methamphetamine on June 25, 2019,” said Evan Smith, Assistant District Attorney of the 13th Judicial District who prosecuted this case.
Although he has not had a long history of drug offenses, Owens is a convicted felon in at least five prior burglaries and one theft case, according to Smith. Owens was represented at trial by attorney Mingy Ball. Owens is now incarcerated and expects to seek a motion for a new trial.
In other Criminal Court news, in February 2022, Tyler Blake Hollingsworth, 28, of Meadowbrook Drive, Smithville, was charged with possession and delivery of a schedule I drug.
Hollingsworth was found to have in his possession 3.34 grams of a white powdery substance believe to be heroin. A deputy received a call from an off-duty officer stating that a subject was sitting a newer model white Chevy Impala at the Food Lion parking lot and appeared to be weighing out drugs in the vehicle.
The deputy pulled up behind the vehicle and found Hollingsworth putting what appeared to be digital scales and baggies on the floorboard between his legs. White powder was on his shirt. Hollingsworth reportedly admitted that the substance was heroin.
On June 20, 2023, Hollingsworth pled guilty to one count of possession of a schedule I drug and was sentenced to eight years all suspended to supervised probation, with a $2,000 fine. The sentence is to run concurrent with a General Sessions violation of probation.
