Trial set for man in jail drug case

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Trial is set for a Dayton man who allegedly conveyed a quarter-ounce of narcotics into the Fayette County Jail in 2016.

Vercie L. Lark, 36, is currently serving a prison term at Chillicothe Correctional Institution for a 2016 conviction on a separate felony case that originated in Fayette County. He was conveyed to the Fayette County Jail Nov. 20 to await trial scheduled for Feb. 15 in the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas.

Court records state Lark faces charges of aggravating trafficking in drugs, a second-degree felony; illegal conveyance of drugs onto the grounds of a detention facility, a third-degree felony; aggravated trafficking in drugs, a third-degree felony; aggravated possession of drugs, a third-degree felony; trafficking in cocaine, a fourth-degree felony; aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony; and possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony.

Reports state that Lark was booked into the Fayette County Jail Aug. 18, 2016 on a bench warrant. The warrant was for an appearance on the separate felony case that he is now incarcerated for in Chillicothe on charges for tampering with evidence and possession of drugs. That incident involved Lark reportedly placing a narcotic in his rectum during a traffic stop and removing it and partially eating it, according to statements by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, who reported that the incident was caught on camera as Lark sat in the back of the patrol car.

After being booked into the Fayette County Jail Aug. 18, 2016, an inmate being transported to another county allegedly told the Fayette County Jail staff to “watch his buddies” in the 12-man cell because there was a quarter-ounce of meth, crack and heroin in the cell.

Officers reportedly planned a search of the 12-man cell and during the execution of the search Aug. 27 with K-9 “Dexi,” allegedly found a bag containing more than a quarter-ounce of narcotics with Lark.

Reports said that inside the one bag were three separate bags: one bag contained 5.44 grams of a crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine (an illegal stimulant), one bag contained 3.45 grams of a hard brown rock substance that tested positive for fentanyl, and one bag contained .33 grams of an off-white substance that tested positive for cocaine, reports said.

The investigation led to multiple interviews with other inmates in the jail at the time.

Reports in the case file from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office show that several jail inmates allegedly said Lark had smuggled a substantial amount of narcotics into the jail and that he was giving the narcotics to other inmates.

One of the inmates interviewed said he witnessed other inmates “fall-out” in the shower and on the floor due to ingesting the drugs (fall-out is another term used to describe an opioid overdose).

At the time of the reported incident, there was no body scanner at the jail, but the Fayette County Jail installed a body scanner in 2017 to check inmates for narcotics prior to placing them with the general population in the jail.

Lark
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2018/01/web1_Lark.jpgLark

By Ashley Bunton

[email protected]

Contact Ashley at (740) 313-0355 or connect on Twitter by searching Twitter.com for @ashbunton and sending a message.

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