Traffic stop leads to drug charges in Fortville – The Daily Reporter

HANCOCK COUNTY – A Chesterfield man is facing multiple drug charges in the county, including trafficking in illegal drugs, after officers found cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl in his vehicle following a traffic stop in Fortville.

Michael David Horton, 44, was charged with two counts of trafficking cocaine and narcotics (Level 2 felonies), one count of trafficking methamphetamine (Level 3 felonies), two counts of possession of narcotics and possession of cocaine (Level 4 felonies), and one count of possession of methamphetamine (Level 5 felonies).

Horton's case opened Monday in Hancock County Superior Court 1. There, Judge DJ Davis entered a not guilty plea on Horton's behalf, set bail at $40,000 and appointed a public defender for Horton. Horton is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 25, according to court records.

According to an Aug. 20 affidavit, a Fortville Police officer conducted a traffic stop at the intersection of Delaware and Madison streets. The driver identified himself as “Jeremy Wilbur.” Officers noted in the report that they had difficulty obtaining the information provided by the driver.

The report noted that other officers on the scene separated the driver and a female passenger in the vehicle and began questioning them. They discovered that the driver's real name was Horton. They also discovered that Horton had warrants out of Madison County, which is why Horton was arrested at the time.

Officers stated in the report that the vehicle the two people were in was known to police in the area as a vehicle that frequently travels to a location in Fortville known for drug use, which is why they wanted to conduct a search.

According to the report, the woman inside the vehicle told officers that the car belonged to her mother. Officers deployed a sniffer dog and sniffed around the vehicle outside, finding a clear sniffer dog on the driver's side of the vehicle.

During the search of the vehicle, a plastic grocery bag was found crumpled and stuffed into the lower left corner of the pocket on the back of the passenger seat, the affidavit states. Inside the plastic bag, officers found two small, clear plastic bags. One of the plastic bags contained a white, powdery substance. The second plastic bag contained several small, white, crystalline substances.

Officers found that a field test kit for the white powdery substance returned a positive hit for cocaine and fentanyl. A field test using the white crystalline substance returned a positive hit for methamphetamine.

According to the report, the woman in the vehicle was not arrested.