By Cassondra Kirby-Mullins
ckirby@herald-leader.com
A Morehead State University student pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that she sold pills from her dorm room.
Mary L. Jones of Greenup was arrested Friday after she allegedly sold the powerful painkiller OxyContin to a campus police officer who was working undercover, MSU Police Chief Matt Sparks said. Campus police began investigating Jones, an undergraduate student, after receiving a tip that she was selling pills on campus, Sparks said.
Jones was arrested near her residence hall and charged with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. In addition, she was charged with trafficking within 1,000 yards of a school, possession of marijuana and third-degree possession of the controlled substances Xanax and OxyContin.
University police say they have no evidence that Jones was working with others, but they are investigating how she obtained the narcotics.
Sparks, a retired Kentucky State Police trooper who took the Morehead job in April, said the department is committed to fighting drug use on campus.
“I spent 20 plus years in the state police and I know firsthand how the drug problem has affected young people in Kentucky,” he said. “We won’t take it lightly.”
Keep up the good work.