Five Livingston County residents are among seven people indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a meth distribution pipeline that extended from western Kentucky to Las Vegas and Mexico.
37-year-old Edward Ibold and 27-year-old Nickole Console of Grand Rivers; 51-year-old Donald Duncan of Salem; 30-year-old Billy Burns of Paducah; and 31-year-old Joseph Smith of Las Vegas were each charged with possession with the intent to distribute meth.
41-year Richard Middleton of Tiline is charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute meth and with distributing meth in addition to two counts of distributing meth and two counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Court records said Middleton sold meth and a large number of guns to an informant.
52-year-old Bobby Copeland, also of Tiline, was charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute meth and distributing meth.
The cases were the result of a multi-jurisdictional investigation involving state, federal, and local police agencies.
If convicted at trial, the defendants each face not less than 10 years and not more than life in prison for possession with the intent to distribute and distribution of meth. Middleton faces an additional 10 years in prison for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
