After waiving his right to a grand jury indictment the Buchtel Chief of Police Kelsie Lanning, Jr. pleaded guilty in Athens County Court of Common Pleas.
Lanning pleaded guilty to the bill of information for one count of permitting drug abuse, a fifth-degree felony. Lanning was sentenced to three years of community control and required to give up peace officers’ licenses by Judge L. Alan Goldsberry.
The charges stemmed from an incident Feb. 15, when Lanning’s girlfriend Jessica Willison sold prescription drugs to an undercover informant at Lanning’s residence in Nelsonville.
If Lanning violates the terms of his parole, he will be sentenced to 11 months in jail.
