Michael Ray Dye faces the next 20 years of his life behind bars following a sentence handed down in Cherokee County, Georgia, Superior Court Friday, May 14. And a local assistant district attorney is hoping to make sure he stays in jail as long as possible.
Dye, 43, of Morganton, was sentenced to a total of 30 years with 20 to serve in prison as a recidivist and a fine of $200,000 by Superior Court Judge David Cannon, according to a statement released by Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace.
Dye was scheduled to go to trial May 17 when he pled guilty to charges of trafficking methamphetamine and possession of more than an ounce of marijuana.
“The State was prepared to present this case to a Cherokee County jury last week. The defendant ultimately decided to plead guilty and accepted responsibility for his crime immediately before jury selection was set to begin,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney David Holmes said.
Holmes, who prosecuted the case for the Cherokee County District Attorney, said, “We are pleased with this outcome and the sentence.”
Dye was arrested December 31, 2018, after the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office received a report that he was at a shopping center on Cumming Highway in Canton. At the time, Dye was wanted by Fannin County authorities to face numerous charges.
Deputies detained Dye, and while talking with him, the suspect admitted there were illegal narcotics inside his vehicle. Deputies located 29 grams of methamphetamine and 38 grams of marijuana.
“Michael Dye has been distributing drugs in North Georgia for more than 20 years. He has been given the opportunity to stop on many occasions, but has instead continued to spread his poison on our streets,” District Attorney Wallace said. “This sentence sends a clear message that drug trafficking will not be tolerated in Cherokee County.”
Appalachian Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney B. Morris Martin hopes to add to that sentence and message.
Martin said last week he hopes to be able to convince Dye to go ahead and plead guilty to the charges against him in Fannin County.
Currently, court records show Dye faces three indictments returned by the May 2019 term of the Fannin County Grand Jury.
The first is a 16-count indictment that includes charges of Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer, four counts of Obstruction of an Officer, a variety of traffic charges and a Recidivist charge. That Recidivist charge stems from Fannin County convictions for Possession of a Sawed-Off Shotgun, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Possession of a Firearm by a First Offender Probationer. Those charges date back to September 2000.
The second indictment lists seven counts, including Aggravated Assault Family Violence, two counts of Battery Family Violence, Simple Battery Family Violence, and a Recidivist charge, which mirrors the same charge in the previous indictment.
The third indictment is 14 counts, largely on firearms violations, including eight counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, two counts of Theft by Receiving Stolen Property, Possession of Methamphetamine, two counts of Possession of Drug Related Objects and another, similar, Recidivist charge.
Martin explained that if Dye pleads guilty, his Fannin County sentence could run concurrently with his Cherokee County sentence. This would, in turn, lengthen Dye’s overall time behind bars because it would delay any date when he would be eligible for parole.
If Dye refuses the guilty plea offer, a hold will be placed on him by Fannin County. This would mean that the day Dye is released from state prison he would be returned to Fannin County to be jailed in preparation for a trial here.
But possibly slowing that trail even more, District Attorney Investigator Steven Whitley confirmed with Cherokee County authorities there is already a federal hold on Dye.
That could lengthen the time that would lapse before Dye could be brought back to Fannin County for trial.