Friday, December 12, 2008
Brothers Plead Guilty To Drug Trafficking Charges.
HINDMAN Two members of a Knott County family well known in the community for selling drugs entered guilty pleas to trafficking charges on Thursday.
Yeart Pratt Jr. and his brother, Hubert Pratt, each accepted plea agreements from Commonwealth Attorney Graham Martin in relation to an undercover drug investigation by Operation UNITE that began in 2007.
Yeart, age 40, agreed to plead guilty to four counts first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (second offense) while 48-year-old Hubert pled guilty to one count first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (second offense).
According to the plea agreement, each charge will result in a 15-year prison sentence, with 11 years to serve and four years probated for five years.
Yeart¹s sentences would run concurrently, meaning at the same time.
Circuit Judge Kim Childers set final sentencing for the men for January 22.
Both men remain lodged in the Kentucky River Regional Detention Center.
Yeart Pratt¹s ex-wife, Susan Hall, who had also been arrested as part of the investigation, entered a guilty plea to an amended charge that would result in only probation, but details of the plea agreement were not immediately available.
Still facing drug trafficking charges are the Pratt¹s parents, 71-year-old Yeart Pratt Sr. and 66-year-old Lillis Pratt, and another brother, 49-year-old John D. Pratt.
In July, following a 14-month investigation into the illegal sale of cocaine, Methadone and Oxycodone in Knott County, law enforcement officers armed with arrest warrants went to the Pratt¹s homes off Mallet Fork Road and Walnut Hollow Drive in the Pine Top Community
Police recovered approximately 15 one-half gram bags of powered cocaine at the time of the arrests.
Additional drug trafficking charges were added in August.
Yeart Pratt Jr. and his brother, Hubert Pratt, each accepted plea agreements from Commonwealth Attorney Graham Martin in relation to an undercover drug investigation by Operation UNITE that began in 2007.
Yeart, age 40, agreed to plead guilty to four counts first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (second offense) while 48-year-old Hubert pled guilty to one count first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (second offense).
According to the plea agreement, each charge will result in a 15-year prison sentence, with 11 years to serve and four years probated for five years.
Yeart¹s sentences would run concurrently, meaning at the same time.
Circuit Judge Kim Childers set final sentencing for the men for January 22.
Both men remain lodged in the Kentucky River Regional Detention Center.
Yeart Pratt¹s ex-wife, Susan Hall, who had also been arrested as part of the investigation, entered a guilty plea to an amended charge that would result in only probation, but details of the plea agreement were not immediately available.
Still facing drug trafficking charges are the Pratt¹s parents, 71-year-old Yeart Pratt Sr. and 66-year-old Lillis Pratt, and another brother, 49-year-old John D. Pratt.
In July, following a 14-month investigation into the illegal sale of cocaine, Methadone and Oxycodone in Knott County, law enforcement officers armed with arrest warrants went to the Pratt¹s homes off Mallet Fork Road and Walnut Hollow Drive in the Pine Top Community
Police recovered approximately 15 one-half gram bags of powered cocaine at the time of the arrests.
Additional drug trafficking charges were added in August.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 2:46 PM 
