Letcher man arrested on seven counts of drug trafficking

Charles Tackett Charles Tackett
Charles Tackett
Charles Tackett

WHITESBURG, Ky. — A Letcher County man who was pulled over for multiple traffic violations found himself heading to jail for multiple drug trafficking charges.

A state trooper spotted an SUV running a stop sign as it left McDonald’s Wednesday morning, then fail to use a turn signal, so he pulled it over.

When the driver — identified as Charles Tackett, 75, of Whitesburg — leaned forward to reach into his glove box, the officer spotted a pill wrapped in cellophane behind him.

A police dog was brought in, which resulted in the discovery of multiple pills such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, Xanax, Lortab and Suboxone in an assortment of containers, such as flashlights, vials and pill bottles.

Tackett was arrested and charged with six found of first-degree drug trafficking, one count of second-degree trafficking and other charges. He is being held in the Letcher County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond.