MOUNT VERNON — A Mount Vernon man was sentenced on Friday to 15 months in prison for offering to sell drugs to a confidential informant for the Mount Vernon Police Department. Paul J. McGregor, 25, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of aggravated trafficking of drugs, a fourth-degree felony, and possession of heroin, a third-degree felony.
“I took Jason Blubaugh to go get drugs and he wore a wire on me,” McGregor said in court.
McGregor waived his right to a presentence investigation, and was immediately sentenced and taken from court to prison.
The aggravated trafficking charge stems from an incident in July 2007. Police records and court records state that McGregor and his girlfriend picked up Blubaugh in their car and drove him to a South Norton Street residence; McGregor’s girlfriend was driving the car and McGregor sat in the passenger seat. The records state that Blubaugh told police that after they arrived at the Norton Street house, he handed McGregor $700 to purchase two “eight balls” of methamphetamine. The records also state that Blubaugh said McGregor took the money and exited the vehicle.
Police records state that Blubaugh told police an unidentified black male then handed Blubaugh the drugs. The report does not state how the black male approached Blubaugh, nor where the deal occured. In the report, the black male was identified by Blubaugh as “D.” In the report, Blubaugh said “D” was from Detroit and had other people with him, and that “D” and the other people had pistols and “were not shy about displaying them.” According to the detective’s report, after the drug deal took place, McGregor and his girlfriend dropped Blubaugh off near a downtown restaurant. The report does not state when McGregor re-entered the vehicle.
According to police records, it was 20 minutes from the time Blubaugh left police custody to carry out the deal, to the time he handed over the purchased substance to police. The same report states that because the deal did not take place where Blubaugh initially said it was going to, officers were unable to maintain visual surveillance. The report does not state how long Blubaugh was out of sight of trailing officers.
According to police records, after the deal, Blubaugh phoned officers and alerted them to pick him up in an alley behind Mazza’s Restaurant at 214 W. High St. Records also show Blubaugh handed officers the substance he allegedly purchased at the buy. However, a lab report from the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation shows that the substance Blubaugh turned over to police did not contain any trace of any controlled substance. The lab report does not state what the substance was.
McGregor, who admitted to the News that he was addicted to drugs, was also sentenced on Friday for possession of heroin. McGregor will serve 11 months on the heroin charge, to be served concurrently with the drug-trafficking sentence.
McGregor said in court on Friday that a probation officer, conducting a routine search of McGregor’s house, uncovered the heroin on Jan. 3, 2008. McGregor was on probation since 2006 for a municipal court conviction for passing bad checks.
McGregor’s girlfriend, who allegedly drove the car to and from the drug deal, has also been charged with felony trafficking in drugs. She is scheduled to stand trial this month.
