FARMINGTON — A local man pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally furnishing OxyContin in exchange for the state dismissing other charges. He faces up to five years in prison. Sentencing was delayed to November or December.

Jonathan Galouch, 26, of 168 Maple Ave., pleaded guilty to a felony charge of unlawfully furnishing illegal drugs. The hearing was held in Judge’s Chambers at the Franklin County Superior Court.

Galouch was indicted in November 2009 on aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, cultivating marijuana, obstructing government administration and criminal forfeiture of property. A conviction for aggravated trafficking carries a prison sentence of up to 30 years.

Galouch, sitting beside his attorney, William Maselli, also admitted to the forfeiture charge and agreed to turn over $2,200 that a state police trooper and a drug agent found in a safe at his home March 27, 2009.

Neither the prosecutor nor the defense wanted to risk going to trial where a jury could have found Galouch innocent or guilty of all charges.

If the case had gone to trial, Assistant Attorney General David Fisher said, the court would have heard testimony from a state trooper and drug agent that Galouch had a prescription bottle with 125 OxyContin pills, 80 milligrams each. Galouch had a prescription for the narcotic but a lesser strength, he said.

A drug agent would have testified he found $2,200 in a safe and a drug ledger with numbers and names in it, and Galouch possessed the pills with the intent to sell them, Fisher said.

Galouch maintained that he didn’t intend to sell them, Fisher said.

When Justice John Nivison asked Galouch if he disagreed with any of the state’s presentation, he said “yes.”

Maselli, speaking on behalf of Galouch, said that he and his client disagreed with the way the search went down, specifically, when the prescription bottle fell to the ground.

The state agreed to the plea deal because Galouch has no prior record and there was no actual sale, Fisher said after the hearing. There have been no violations of bail in the 18 months since he was charged, Fisher said.

“It is our goal to get people off prescription drugs,” he said, adding, abuse and misuse of them are a major concern in the state.

After the hearing, Maselli declined to comment on specifics of the case.

“My client has a number of health conditions,” Maselli said, and he had a reason to have the medication.

The sentencing agreement will have a cap, Fisher said, and Galouch and his attorney would most likely argue for less of a sentence than he will be asking the court to set.

dperry@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link