McROBERTS, Ky. — A Letcher County man died in a house fire Saturday morning.

Just after 7:30 a.m., Kentucky State Police Post 13 was informed of a fire along Route 343 at McRoberts. Police and firefighters found the home engulfed in flames when they arrived on the scene.

Once the fire was extinguished, a search began for the homeowner, 70-year-old Robert Mullins. The remains of one person presumed to be Mullins were found in the house.

Police are continuing to investigate, but say foul play is not suspected. The remains have been sent to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsy and positive identification.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Letcher County man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in a federal drug and gun case.

Larry Wayne Bentley, 44, of McRoberts, pleaded guilty back in December to conspiracy to distribute meth and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Bentley admitted to buying pounds of meth from a Louisville supplier, then selling it in Letcher County. When police raided his home, they seized three pounds of meth, along with more than $14,000 in cash and three guns. He later admitted that the $10,000 he used to post bond was also drug money.

On Monday, a judge sentenced him to 20 years for the conspiracy charge and an additional five years on the gun charge.

A second person in the case — Bryan Wayne Branham, 44, of McRoberts — has also pleaded guilty to assisting Bentley with a drug sale on one occasion. He will be sentenced in May.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — The second and final defendant in a Letcher County meth distribution case has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

Bryan Wayne Branham, of McRoberts, entered a guilty plea Friday to one count of distributing meth.

Branham admitted to facilitating the sale of a pound of meth to an undercover informant last June. According to court records, Larry Wayne Bentley had arranged the sale, but had to leave before the buyer arrived, and he asked Branham to take care of it.

Bentley previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and distribution of meth. He faces between 10 years and life in prison when he is sentenced in March.

Branham’s plea must still be accepted by the judge. If it is, he will face between five and 40 years.

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McROBERTS, Ky. — A Letcher County man has been arrested on federal drug charges, after investigators were able to uncover around five pounds of meth.

Larry Wayne Bentley, 43, of McRoberts, was arrested on Friday.

Court records indicate that investigators used an undercover source to purchase about a pound of meth from Bentley on two occasions. Then, when investigators executed a search warrant at his home on Friday and found a large amount of meth, Bentley indicated that it was about three pounds.

Bentley has now been charged with conspiracy to distribute meth, distribution of meth, and possession of meth with the intent to distribute. He is being held in the Pike County Detention Center.

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