Lyall found guilty on 7 drug counts

STATESVILLE — After about two hours of deliberation in Statesville Monday afternoon, a jury in U.S. District Court found former Alleghany County Sheriff’s Department Det. Ricky Lyall guilty of seven drug-related charges. After the verdicts were read, Lyall sat down and put his face in his hands.

Two of the counts were drug conspiracy charges and the others were possession of cocaine and methamphetamine with intent to distribute. U.S. marshals, upon the order of Judge Richard L. Voorhees, took Lyall into custody at the end of the trial, which began a week ago. Lyall, 33, of Laurel Springs, will be held until his sentencing hearing, which Voorhees said will be in the next month or two.

The former law enforcement officer is facing up to 20 years in prison, all to be served without possibility of parole. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District noted that the court will consult federal sentencing guidelines to determine the actual sentence.

“Sentences are based on a formula taking into account the severity and characteristics of the offense and each defendant’s prior criminal history,” the spokesman said. Lyall has no prior criminal convictions. U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert commended the work of Federal Bureau of Investigation and State Bureau of Investigation agents and Alleghany Sheriff Mike Caudill.

“Law enforcement officers are sworn by solemn oath to protect the public and maintain their integrity,” Shappert said. “No one is above the law — not even a sheriff’s deputy.”

Prosecuting for the government were assistant U.S. attorneys Kenneth M. Smith and Thomas O’Malley. Representing Lyall was attorney Kenneth Andreson of Charlotte.

Lyall was originally charged in a 15-count indictment in August, which contained eight drug-related charges, six counts of extortion and one count of making a materially false statement to a federal law enforcement officer. The government elected before trial to dismiss all but seven drug-related charges.

Lyall’s criminal activity was originally reported to the FBI, which investigated the matter with SBI agents.

An inventory of the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Department’s drug evidence room was conducted by the SBI upon the request of Caudill and District Attorney Tom Horner after it was reported that between $5,000 and $6,000 might be missing.

The inventory also revealed that a quantity of cocaine being held as evidence was 60 grams lighter than when it was seized, testimony indicated.

Trial testimony was that Lyall recruited Ronald Billings and Leah Jarrett to sell illegal drugs that had been seized in a criminal investigation and then store in the sheriff’s department’s evidence room.

Evidence, including testimony by Billings and Ms. Jarrett, showed Lyall attempted to sell about one-half kilo of cocaine and an ounce of methamphetamine which had been seized during an investigation in 2002. “This is a public corruption case,” O’Malley said in his closing argument to the jury late Monday morning. “This is not just a drug case.”

Lyall was “sworn to uphold the law,” but chose to violate the law by stealing and selling drugs, the prosecutor said. “Ricky Lyall got caught with his hands in the cookie jar.”

Andreson attacked the testimony of Ms. Jarrett and Billings in his closing argument. “You have to believe people you simply cannot believe.”

Clarification

Due to an error, a story on the trial of Ricky Lyall said last week that Leah Jarrett was charged with the larceny of two payroll checks. Jarrett was never charged with taking the checks. However, she admitted under oath to cashing the checks for a person she identified only as ‘Tammy’ and then returning the money to that person. Jarrett signed an agreement to repay money for the checks with then Det. Ricky Lyall of the Alleghany Sheriff’s Department. She testified that she thought she was working undercover for the department as an informant to repay her debt.

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