A 21-year-old Columbus man has been sentenced to two years of home detention and 900 hours of community service after pleading guilty to dealing drugs.
Tyler T. Sherman, then 19, was arrested in 2016 after officers reported finding about 65 grams of Xanax in baggies in the vehicle he was driving.
Police also reported finding “green alien head” labels in the car and in Sherman’s pocket, and text messages on his iPhone that he exchanged with people wanting to buy “bars.”
Xanax, a sedative, is prescribed to treat anxiety.
On Nov. 20, Sherman pleaded guilty to dealing in a Schedule IV controlled substance, a Level 4 felony. He was sentenced on Dec. 28 to five years in the Department of Corrections/Brown County jail/Brown County Community Corrections, with two years executed and three years suspended, according to online court records.
Along with completing 900 hours of community service, Sherman was ordered to participate in the Thinking for a Change program.
He was also ordered to submit to a substance abuse evaluation and complete all recommended follow-up treatment at his own expense, according to online court records.
Former Nashville Police Officer Matthew Hatchett stopped Sherman for swerving and crossing the center line at the junction of State Road 46 East and State Road 135 South.
Sherman denied having any illegal substances or having taken anything that would explain his driving; he told the officer he was scratching his head, Hatchett’s report said.
The officer told him he was giving him a warning for driving left of center and having an expired insurance card. Hatchett asked him if he could search his vehicle to make sure there was nothing illegal in the vehicle, and Sherman consented, the report said.
In addition to the pills, bags and labels, Hatchett and Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Colton Magner reported finding $95 in Sherman’s wallet and another $280 separately.
When talking with police, Sherman referred to the pills as “Xanax bars.” He told police his friends sold the pills for between $5 and $10 and ordered them online for $3.50 each, the report said.
Sherman had told officers he had a friend with him in the vehicle while going to Taco Bell in Bloomington and the friend must have left the drugs in the car.
