Columbus Grove resident Joseph Chandler pleaded guilty Tuesday in Putnam County Common Pleas Court to dealing in fentanyl. He will be sentenced Oct. 18.
J Swygart | The Lima News
OTTAWA — A Columbus Grove man pleaded guilty Tuesday to dealing in fentanyl as part of a negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors.
Joseph Chandler, 39, appeared before Putnam County Common Pleas Court Judge Keith Schierloh and entered pleas to two counts of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, reduced by prosecutors to felonies of the third degree as part of the plea deal. Dismissed by the state were an additional trafficking count as well as a single fifth-degree felony charge of trafficking in cocaine.
The charges stem from a pair of incidents in August of 2023 when Chandler on two separate occasions sold a fentanyl-related compound to a confidential information used by law enforcement. Through his guilty pleas Chandler admitted selling 5.9 grams of the drug to the informant on Aug. 16 and 5.04 grams on Aug. 31. The transactions occurred at 329 N. Main St., Columbus Grove.
Asked by Shierloh to explain his actions, Chandler said he was approached by the informant on more than one occasion to provide him with drugs.
“This guy hit me up to sell him some drugs. I was strung out (on drugs) myself at the time and figured I could make a few bucks,” Chandler told the judge, adding that he and the informant drove to Lima to pick up the fentanyl.
Schierloh ordered a pre-sentence investigation for Chandler and set sentencing for Oct. 18. At that time a hearing on restitution will also be held, at the request of defense attorney James Haughn. The state is seeking restitution in the amount of $2,770 to be paid to local law enforcement.
