PRESTONSBURG – A two-day drug trial ending Tuesday evening resulted in what prosecutors believe to be the largest recommended sentence for an accused drug dealer in the county’s history.

Gary Warrick, 43, of Town Branch Road in Prestonsburg, was found guilty by a Floyd County jury on two counts of first-degree trafficking of methadone and an additional charge of persistent felony offender.

The jury recommended a maximum sentence of 20 years for the trafficking charges and then another maximum recommendation of 10 years to run consecutively on the persistent felony offender charge.

Floyd County Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner said a recommended sentence of 30 years on a drug trafficking case is a first for his office.

“I just think people are fed up with the drug dealers right now and they’ve seen the harm it’s causing the community,” Turner said. “I really think how the jury felt was a reflection on how a lot of people feel right now. We’re proud of the jury taking a stand like this and making what is obviously a pretty big statement.”

The trial was the result of an investigation during which Warrick was found guilty of taking part in two controlled buys with undercover cops in the Prestonsburg area.

According to Turner, Warrick sold 35 methadone wafers to an undercover informant on Oct. 23, 2007, at his home on Town Branch Road. During this buy, the informant paid Warrick $1,400 for the 40 mg wafers, Turner said.

The second buy took place roughly a month later on Nov. 27, 2007, at the Town Mountain entrance to the Bull Creek Trade Center. Warrick sold another 19 of the same methadone wafers to the informant at that time, the jury determined after about an hour of deliberation, for a total amount of $760.

One aspect that came as a surprise to Turner was Warrick’s decision to act as co-counsel. The Prestonsburg man’s former felony conviction was on a charge of burglary, for which he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. During this trial, Warrick acted as sole counsel on his own behalf.

He had been released in June 2006 on this conviction, Turner said.

“In this case he decided to be hybrid counsel, or co-counsel,” Turner said. “He had a public defender, but he did the questioning and the jury selection process and his closing argument. It was interesting, he was objecting to almost everything I was doing during the trial.”

Warrick will be in court for formal sentencing on April 23 before Floyd Circuit Court Judge John David Caudill.