Two Franklin men were charged late last week with a total of nine counts of heroin dealing, stemming from two separate drug investigations by Franklin police and the sheriff’s office.
Rickey D. Ford II, 41, is charged with four counts of dealing narcotics, following a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office investigation that took place in December 2020 to April 2021. That includes three Level 4 felony charges and a Level 5 felony charge.
Michael D. Newton, 44, was charged with three counts of dealing narcotics, stemming from the same sheriff’s office investigation, including two Level 4 felony counts and a Level 5 felony count.
Ford was charged with two additional counts of dealing narcotics after a Franklin Police Department investigation that took place in late June and early July, including Level 4 and Level 5 felonies.
During the sheriff’s office’s investigation, deputies gathered evidence that Ford sold more than five grams of heroin on four separate occasions in the parking lots of the Franklin Walmart and Meijer, according to court documents filed in Johnson County Superior Court 3.
Newton participated in the drug deals, court documents show.
During the Franklin police investigation, officers gathered evidence that Ford sold more than two grams of heroin on two separate occasions in late June and early July at a Franklin gas station and at his home in the 1000 block of Fairlane Court, according to court documents.
Both men were arrested July 7 after a search warrant was executed at Ford’s house. They were taken to the Johnson County jail where Ford is being held on $22,600 bond, and Newton is being held on $13,000 bond.
Ford has a history of dealing. He was previously convicted of dealing marijuana in 2004, when he entered a plea agreement for a case filed in 2002. He dealt marijuana within 1,000 feet of a local school, according to online court records.
