Madison County Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Heroin Conspiracy

LEXINGTON — A Madison County man, who was previously convicted of heroin charges, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood sentenced Neal Scott Stone, 39, for conspiracy to distribute heroin, distribution of heroin, possession with intent to distribute heroin, attempt to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram of cocaine, and violating the conditions of his supervised release from a previous crime.  Judge Hood also sentenced Stone’s girlfriend, Catherine Leake, 28, to two years in prison for conspiring with Stone.  Both defendants must serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentence.

A federal jury convicted Stone of the drug charges in January of this year and found that he conspired to distribute heroin from March 1, 2014 until May 13, 2014.  Leake pleaded guilty to the conspiracy offense in January.

According to court documents, in May 2014, Leake distributed heroin, on Stone’s behalf, to another individual at a fast food restaurant in Richmond.  Following the transaction, authorities arrested Stone and Leake.  After executing a search warrant at Stone’s residence, authorities recovered several items associated with the drug conspiracy, including 71 grams of heroin.

Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, David Gregory, Chief of Police, Berea, Ky., and Joseph P. Reagan, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, jointly made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the Berea Police Department and the DEA.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Cindy Rieker prosecuted the case on behalf of the federal government.