Warner Robins man sentenced to 12 years for heroin trafficking

GA’S WARNER ROBINS (WMGT/41NBC) The Houston County District Attorney’s Office reports that a guy from Warner Robins who pleaded guilty to heroin trafficking was given a 12-year jail sentence.

James Edward Kelly Jr., 57, pled guilty to heroin trafficking on July 3. He received a 25-year term, of which the first 12 must be spent behind bars, along with a $50,000 fine.

The charges were brought in response to a 911 call regarding a potential overdose at the Perry Best Western hotel on September 7, 2024. Kelly was discovered unconscious by emergency personnel. He apparently lost consciousness after taking methamphetamine and marijuana, and first responders provided life-saving assistance.

Perry police officers conducted interviews with other hotel room occupants during the reaction. After obtaining a search warrant, Detective Kim Morton found 14 grams of heroin along with other illegal narcotics like cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. Additionally, officers found syringes, smoking pipes, and digital scales.

The investigation that supported such concerns was headed by Detective Aaron Conner, who knew Kelly as a known drug dealer in Houston County.

Kelly tried to evade prosecution prior to trial by referring to Georgia’s Medical Amnesty statute, O.C.G.A. 16-13-5. Since the act only offers limited safeguards for anyone who, in good faith, seek emergency aid after an overdose, Senior Assistant District Attorney Lauren W. Fletcher contended that it did not apply in Kelly’s case. The case can now move forward to sentencing because the court agreed.

Lauren W. Fletcher, senior assistant district attorney, issued the following statement:

The purpose of the Medical Amnesty legislation is to protect users from criminal charges connected to accidental overdoses involving minor amounts of drugs, not to protect drug traffickers from the repercussions of their decisions to sell poison in our community. Despite his unintentional overdose, Kelly’s conviction makes it abundantly evident to drug dealers in Houston County that supplying controlled narcotics in this town carries a significant jail sentence from the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Eric Edwards, the district attorney, issued the following statement:

The purpose of Georgia’s Medical Amnesty statute was to save lives, not to give drug traffickers a way out of jail. Rather than being caught red-handed with heroin, fentanyl, and meth, this defendant attempted to hide behind a law intended for users in crisis. In Houston County, we don’t tolerate such crap. Expect to be held completely responsible if you introduce poison into our community; there won’t be any room for excuses or loopholes.