Greenfield man gets community control in 'Operation Fetty Stop' case
A Greenfield man indicted on six drug-related charges and a forfeiture specification in September was sentenced to community control Tuesday in Highland County Common Pleas Court.
Fred Whitley, 68, was indicted by a Highland County grand jury Sept. 12 on one count of complicity to trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound in the vicinity of a juvenile, a fourth-degree felony; three counts of permitting drug abuse, one count of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and one count of possession of a fentanyl-related compound, all fifth-degree felonies; and a forfeiture specification.
Whitley’s arrest and charges were part of “Operation Fetty Stop,” which is the ongoing work of the Highland County Task Force and all county law enforcement agencies to stop the trafficking and use of fentanyl in Highland County. The arrests were focused in Madison Township, the Village of Greenfield and the Rocky Fork Lake area.
According to court records, Whitley pleaded guilty in November to complicity to trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound in the vicinity of a juvenile, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, one of the permitting drug abuse charges and the forfeiture specification. The other three charges were dismissed.
A bill of particulars alleges that on or about Feb. 8, a confidential informant (CI) purchased a fentanyl-related compound at a Greenfield residence. Whitley was driving a car with the alleged seller of drugs as the passenger, according to the bill of particulars.
On a separate date in January, it is alleged that a CI purchased a fentanyl-related compound at a Greenfield residence owned by Whitley. Both Whitley and a child were reportedly inside the residence at the time of the transaction.
Whitley also pleaded guilty to one count of permitting drug abuse, as that charge alleged that in December 2022, a CI purchased a fentanyl-related compound at the residence owned by Whitley.
The residence owned by Whitley was “subject to forfeiture due to its instrumentality in the commission or facilitation” of these offenses, the bill of particulars says.
During a sentencing hearing Dec. 5, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Whitley to three years of community control and ordered the forfeiture of Whitley’s property. In addition, Whitley was ordered to pay $240 in restitution to the Highland County Task Force, joint and several with two alleged co-defendants.