Former Corbin police officer indicted in meth conspiracy

A former Corbin police officer is facing more legal trouble, this time in federal court.

Forty-three-year-old Charlie Bronson Fugate is one of three individuals named in a federal indictment returned Thursday.

Fugate and co-defendants Tiffany Hamilton, 32, and Richard Stanley, 42, all of Corbin, were each indicted for conspiracy to distribute 50 or more grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.

According to the indictment, the alleged conspiracy occurred between April and July in Laurel and Whitley counties.

Fugate was also indicted on charges of possession of firearms in the furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of firearms.

Hamilton and Stanley were also indicted on one count of possession of a firearm by an individual convicted in a court of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison.

The indictment was the result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Kentucky State Police and Williamsburg Police Department.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird said the investigation into Fugate and his fiancé, Hamilton began after police arrested Stanley following a traffic stop in Rockholds earlier this month.

“Stanley had seven to eight grams of crystal meth along with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, so we contacted ATF,” Bird said.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement recovered multiple firearms that Fugate and Hamilton possessed including a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, a Maddi AK-type 7.62 x 39 caliber rifle, a Llama .22-caliber pistol, a Hi-Point 9mm handgun, a Ceska Zbrojovka A.S.v Praze handgun and a Phoenix Arms .22-caliber handgun.

Prosecutors are asking that each of those weapons, along with a Bryco 9mm handgun be forefeited.

Fugate and Hamilton are each being held in the Laurel County Correctional Facility.

The case is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 31 in U.S. District Court in London. Judge Gregory VanTatenhove is to preside.

Fugate is also a former Laurel County Sheriff’s deputy. In 2006, Fugate unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Corbin City Commission.

In May 2009, Fugate was arrested while attempting to avoid a Kentucky State Police traffic checkpoint on Old US 25 and Slate Ridge.

On Feb. 7, 2010, Fugate was arrested on U.S. 25 in Laurel County after state police witnessed his vehicle cross the “fog line” and then the centerline.

Fugate pleaded guilty in each instance.