HUNT bust results in lengthy prison term for Ecstasy dealer

A drug dealer who didn?t learn his lesson will be spending the next two-and-a-half to 20 years in prison. Kyle Vargas, 21, of Onaway, was arrested May 1 at his residence on Washington Avenue selling what he was touting as Ecstasy pills. Only six weeks before, Vargas had been busted for possession of the drug methadone in Emmet County. Presque Isle County Circuit Judge Scott Pavlich didn?t look kindly on the circumstances surrounding Vargas? case and sentenced him September 29 to a lengthy prison term.

?KYLE, WHETHER his mind was fogged by the samplings of the substances he was selling, or for whatever reason, wasn?t too sharp about this,? said Presque Isle County prosecutor Don McLennan. ?He was already under supervision of the law at the point and time when he went out and did this again,? said McLennan. ?…Obviously it?s more likely the penalty imposed is going to be more severe, and that?s what happened.? Members of the Huron Undercover narcotics Team through a confidential informant (CI), learned Vargas had received a supply of Ecstasy pills and was attempting to sell them. Detectives prepared the CI for a controlled buy. Vargas told the buyer he would sell three Ecstasy tablets and two Oxycontin pills for $190. HUNT provided the CI with the money and Vargas was arrested again.

Later it was learned the Ecstasy pills he sold were a combination of drugs, one of which included methamphetamine, which McLennan said is one the ?most addictive drugs known to man.? This brings to light another danger in the drug world: that buyers aren?t always getting what they think they are, McLennan said.

?LIKE MANY people who are involved in the sale of narcotics, Kyle is somebody who has a significant history,? said McLennan. According to the prosecutor, Vargas has admitted to smoking marijuana first in junior high and continuing to use it on a regular basis through high school. He admitted to using ?Crystal-meth,? Ecstasy, Zanax, methadone, morphine, and Oxycontin over the years. The eventual time of Vargas? prison sentence will be determined by how he handles himself in the Michigan Department of Corrections. His first 30 days in the prison system are spent in an orientation center where he is screened and interviewed. Prison officials will then determine the best possible placement for him, trying to put him with others his age who have committed similar offenses.

? HUNT DETECTIVES were involved in the

bust of an Alpena Township man at his residence last week. With assistance from state troopers from Alpena, a search warrant was executed at the home of a 60-year-old individual October 1, following an undercover purchase of Oxycodone pills, a press release stated. HUNT officers seized an additional 19 Oxycodone pills during the search warrant execution, as well as nearly $600 in cash. Delivery of Oxycodone is a felony offense, punishable by up to seven years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. Oxycodone is a highly addictive prescription pain medication that has been widely abused in recent years, the release says.

The drug is prescribed in the form of timed-release pills, designed to slowly release the medication into the blood stream over an extended period. The misuse of the drug is extremely dangerous and often leads to fatal overdoses.

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