Alleged trafficker caught after falling asleep at wheel

By Kayleigh Zyskowski Published: July 19, 2012 10:00AM

A Frankfort man fell asleep behind the wheel of his car at a busy local intersection and woke up to face charges of trafficking in pills, a prosecutor says.

Joseph Smith, 35, of 515 Pierce Lane, was idling at the traffic light near Wilkinson Boulevard and Mero Street June 30, Commonwealth’s Attorney Larry Cleveland said Wednesday.

“He’s just sitting there,” Cleveland said. “The police officer approaches because the light changes a couple times and he doesn’t move.”

The officer told Smith to put the vehicle in park and shut the engine down, Cleveland said. He discovered the man was under the influence before searching his vehicle where he found $3,500, 30 Xanax and 129 Percocet pills.

Smith is charged with driving under the influence and two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, according to an indictment handed down by the Franklin County grand jury Wednesday.

Those also indicted included:

>John Sullivan, 49, of 718 Wash Road, for DUI, possession of a controlled substance and being a persistent felony offender March 20.

>Craig Dillon, 31, of Sadieville, for theft by failure to make required disposition of property and being a persistent felony offender Aug. 5, 2011.

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July 19, 2012 1:18PM

Who was he "selling" them to, the Sandman? He was asleep (passed out) at the time, so how could he be trafficking? Anybody with a computer and the internet can buy all of these pain pills that they want on-line, directly from the manufacturers in India. All they have to do is Google what they want, and have a credit card handy. I even get SPAM offers occasionally, that are carefully worded with nonsense to avoid my SPAM filter. And apparently, they can be had at bargain basement prices. Since it became readily apparent a loooong time ago that law enforcement and the judicial system were powerless to eradicate these pills, why are we spending all of our scarce tax dollars still continue to try? Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is insanity, by definition. Do you have any idea what it costs to apprehend, prosecute people like this (often with a public defender and all on our nickel) and then to incarcerate them ($30,000 a year)? How much did the confiscation of 160 pills cost the taxpayers for just this time? Plenty! And all for what? These people will just go back on the internet and buy thousands more and have them sent to their front door. This is ludicrous.