Warner Robins man pleads guilty for trafficking heroin in Houston County 

WARNER ROBINS — James Edwards Kelly Jr., 57, pled guilty to trafficking heroin on Thursday, July 3. 

According to a media release, Chief Judge Edwards Lukemire sentenced Kelly to 25 years, with the first 12 years to be served in prison. Kelly was also fined $50,000. 

The charges against Kelly stem from a 911 call about a suspected drug overdose at the Best Western hotel in Perry on September 7, 2024. 

Perry Police Department, EMS and fire department officials responded to the scene where they found Kelly unresponsive after smoking marijuana and methamphetamine. This resulted in the officials performing life-saving aid. 

Perry Police Department Detective Kim Morton received a search warrant to Kelly’s hotel room. 

“A lawful search of the room yielded 14 grams of heroin, in addition to a variety of controlled substances, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy, as well as, digital scales, smoking pipes and syringes,” the release said.  

Detective Aaron Conner headed the investigation of this case and was familiar that Kelly was a distributor of drugs in Houston County. 

Before trial, the release said Kelly attempted to evade prosecution citing a claim from the prosecution regarding immunity under O.C.G.A. 16-13-5, which is Georgia’s Medical Amnesty statute. 

“Senior Assistant District Attorney Lauren W. Fletcher successfully argued that the plain language of the Medical Amnesty statute, which precludes prosecution only for very specific drug violations of persons who, in good faith, seek medical assistance for a person experiencing a drug overdose, did not prohibit Kelly’s prosecution,” the release said. 

Fletcher provided comments on the sentencing: 

“The Medical Amnesty statute is intended to shield users from small quantity drug-related criminal charges associated with accidental overdoses, not to shield drug traffickers from facing the consequences of their choices to peddle poison in our community,” she said. “Kelly’s conviction, despite his accidental overdose, sends a clear message to Houston County drug dealers that the reward for distributing controlled substances in this community is a lengthy term of imprisonment in the Georgia Department of Corrections.”

Houston County District Attorney Eric Edwards also provided comments: 

“Georgia’s Medical Amnesty law was written to save lives—not to serve as a get-out-of-jail-free card for drug traffickers. This defendant tried to hide behind a law meant for users in crisis, not dealers caught red-handed with heroin, fentanyl, and meth,” he said. “We don’t put up with that kind of nonsense in Houston County. If you bring poison into this community, expect to be held fully accountable—no loopholes, no excuses.”