News

Zirconia man sent to prison for dealing meth

By Bill Moss, Published: November 19, 2019

A Zirconia man was sentenced to 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to dealing meth, District Attorney Greg Newman announced.

Ronald Shane Green, of 738 Mountain View Church Road, pleaded guilty to the charges last week in Henderson County Superior Court. Superior Court Judge Gregory Hayes imposed the prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. Green will be eligible for release after serving 15 years

Henderson County sheriff’s deputies obtained a warrant to search Green's home based on sources who said that Green and his associates were bringing illegal drugs into the area and supplying other local drug dealers. When the search warrant was executed in January, deputies found methamphetamine in Green’s home, along with digital scales, glass pipes, baggies and measuring spoons, the district attorney said in a news release. Green also had more than $1,000 cash on his person in various denominations.

When the sheriff’s deputies arrived to search the home, Green was in the process of attempting to flush a substantial amount of methamphetamine in his bathroom. The deputies determined that the plumbing line under the home did not connect to a septic system , but discharged onto the ground. The deputies were able, therefore, to retrieve a significant amount of the illegal drugs from both the plumbing line and on the ground under the house trailer.

Several documents discovered inside the home revealed drug transactions with numerous individuals locally. Green subsequently admitted to narcotics detectives that he was purchasing at least one to two pounds of methamphetamine on a regular basis from a supplier in the Atlanta area, the district attorney said, and identified other local drug dealers, some of whom have also been indicted and are awaiting trial.

“This conviction and sentence is the culmination of an investigation that confirmed law enforcement suspicions that Green was bringing illegal narcotics into Henderson County from another state,” Newman said. “Green has a long criminal history and the community is better off now that he is out of circulation for at least the next 15 years. The work product in this case from the Sheriff’s Department is exemplary. They provided my office with a strong case to prosecute."