A Fairfield man was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison by Jefferson County District Court for charges stemming from an incident this winter. On February 16th 39-year-old Russell Allen Shirley was arrested at his home by Fairfield officers who had an active warrant for his arrest on unrelated charges. Officers knocked and announced themselves at the door and got no response. Shortly after, two individuals left the residence and were asked by authorities if anyone else was in the home, to which they answered that Shirley was. Officers then entered the home to execute the warrant. Shirley’s mother told officers that he was not home, but he was later found hiding in a bathtub.

In the process of executing the warrant, officers found suspected controlled substances in plain view and a search warrant for the home was then obtained with authorities seizing approximately 10 grams of methamphetamine, cash, a debit card, packing materials, digital scale and glass smoking devices.

Shirley  pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, less than five grams, a class C felony. Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding explained that Shirley “Has a long history of drug and property crimes spanning multiple states, as well as a demonstrated proclivity for attempting to evade police and the justice system, as admitted by him in open court while requesting to be released on bond. Sentencing him to a lengthy period of incarceration is necessary in this case to provide him the ability to rehabilitate himself and re-order his thinking, as well as to deter his ongoing criminal activities in and around the community of Fairfield.”