Published: November 06, 2008 07:54 am      

Drug trafficking charge dropped against elderly Berea man

As 82-year-old Archie Anglin stood Wednesday before Madison District Judge Brandy O. Brown on drug charges, he pledged to steer clear of trouble as he awaits a grand jury’s review of his case.

“If someone comes to my house, I’ll run them off, I promise you that,” Anglin said, after learning that one of the more serious charges against him, trafficking in a controlled substance, had been dismissed.

“That’d be a good idea,” Brown replied.

Anglin, of 1721 KY 1016 in Berea, was arrested Oct. 21 and charged with trafficking in a controlled substance for allegedly giving two women Oxycontin pills in exchange for sexual favors.

He also was charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance. Two additional charges, third-degree possession of a controlled substance and second-degree possession of a controlled substance, were later dropped.

“The two counts of possession were dropped because Mr. Anglin had valid prescriptions for the pills in question, the Xanax and the hydrocodone,” said attorney Michael Eubanks, who represented Anglin.

The remaining possession charge will be heard by a Madison County grand jury.

County attorney Marc Robbins said there was some indication that a similar matter had recently been prosecuted in another county.

The local charge of trafficking arose out of a case in Garrard County, Eubanks said, adding that the Garrard County charges also were dropped.

“He was charged with trafficking because a number of his pills were missing,” Eubanks said, claiming that the pills actually were stolen from Anglin.

“In fact, he filed a police report on the stolen pills and a guitar three days before he was arrested,” the lawyer said.

Berea police began to investigate Anglin earlier this year after he called several times to report missing medicine, household items and a television from his residence, Berea Police Capt. Ken Clark explained when Anglin first was arrested.

“When officers would respond to those calls, there were often young women who were not related to Anglin at his home on KY 1016,” Clark said.

Police officers reportedly were initially concerned that the women, thought to be in their 20s, were taking advantage of Anglin because of his age.

Anglin was charged with possession of a controlled substance after Berea Police Detective Lee Ann Roberts discovered what appeared to be 11 hydrocodone tablets and eight alprazolam pills, the generic form of Xanax, in an aspirin bottle when she served Anglin with a warrant Oct. 21 on the trafficking charge, the arrest report states.

“Anglin had tried to hide the bottle under his mattress,” Roberts wrote in the report.

Lorie Love can be reached at llove@richmondregister.com or 624-6690.