Two Charged With Heroin Trafficking Receive Sentence

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Two Acworth residents who were arrested and charged earlier this year with trafficking heroin have been sentenced for their crimes.

Kevin Allen Dearing, 21, last month accepted a negotiated guilty plea to one count of possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute. Earlier this month, Joseph Raymond Koss, 23, also accepted a negotiated plea of guilty to three counts of possession of controlled substances.

Both southwest Cherokee County men received a 10-year probation sentence, court document show.

As part of his probation, Dearing must pay the probation supervisory fee; reimburse Cherokee County $520 in attorneys fees; perform 200 hours of community service; submit to a search of his person, vehicle or residence day or night without a search warrant whenever requested by a probation officer or other law enforcement officer upon reasonable cause; have no contact of any kind with Koss; receive evaluation and treatment for substance abuse; remain in custody for up to nine months until entry and successful completion of an intensive recovery residence for no less than nine months; not consume alcoholic beverages or narcotic drugs unless lawfully prescribed; not occupy a home where alcohol and illegal drugs are present; not consume alcohol and operate a motor vehicle; report any arrests to his probation officer within 48 hours; not possess a firearm or occupy a home or vehicle where firearms are present; and inform probation officer of current medications within 72 hours.

Koss must also pay the probation supervisory fee; perform 100 hours of community service; enter and complete a regional substance abuse treatment facility; remain in custody no more than six months while waiting acceptance into a treatment program; submit to a search of his person, vehicle or residence day or night without a search warrant whenever requested by a probation officer or other law enforcement officer upon reasonable cause; have no contact with Dearing; refrain from entering The Bluffs area in Atlanta; not consume alcoholic beverages or narcotic drugs unless lawfully prescribed; not occupy a home where alcohol and illegal drugs are present; not consume alcohol and operate a motor vehicle; report any arrests to his probation officer within 48 hours; not possess a firearm or occupy a home or vehicle where firearms are present; inform probation officer of current medications within 72 hours; and complete all after-care of the treatment program.

Both Koss and Dearing were arrested in March by agents with the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, or CMANS.

Agents originally received information that Koss was an alleged “source of heroin in south Cherokee County,” CMANS Commander Phil Price previously said.

With the arrest of both Koss and Dearing, agents seized more than eight grans of heroin in a vehicle and smaller amounts of the drug on their person. Price stated the weight of the drugs at the scene was more than twice the weight required for a trafficking charge in Georgia.

The Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad is a joint task force working in Cherokee County to investigate drug related violations. Participating agencies include the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, the Canton Police Department, the Woodstock Police Department, the Holly Springs Police Department, the Ball Ground Police Department, the Cherokee County Marshal’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia State Patrol.

Citizens may call in tips anonymously to (770) 345-7920, or may speak to an agent by calling (678) 493-7625.

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Photo: Joseph Raymond Koss and Keven Allen Dearing. Credit: Cherokee Sheriff’s Office