Shane Allen Wheat
A Whitfield County jury on Wednesday returned guilty verdicts against Shane Allen Wheat, 35, formerly of 1210 Good Hope Road, Dalton, for various meth offenses.
He was found guilty of trafficking in meth, possession of meth with the intent to distribute, possession of meth, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a drug offense, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, possession of a drug-related object, and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Superior Court Judge Jim Wilbanks presided over the trial and set sentencing for May 17. Wheat faces up to life without the possibility of parole
Assistant District Attorney Ben Kenemer and Whitfield County Sheriff’s Detective Cameron Cox presented the case to the jury. The state called seven witnesses and presented 27 exhibits to the jury during the trial which was split into two parts.
The jury first heard about the charges other than the two counts of possession of firearms by a convicted felon and were not advised of Wheat’s prior record. After returning guilty verdicts on those counts, the jury was re-sworn and additional evidence was presented as to one of Wheat’s prior felony convictions to prove the remaining counts.
Wheat had previously been convicted in 2001 of theft in Murray County, in 2003 of possession and sale of meth in Murray County, in 2007 of trafficking in meth in Gwinnett County, in 2011 of possession of meth in Murray County and in 2015 of possession of meth with the intent to distribute in Whitfield County.
Wheat had received numerous prison sentences during his career and was still on parole for the 2015 Whitfield County offense having served only 28 months on a sentence requiring seven years to serve followed by 13 years on probation.
Wheat was represented by Dalton attorney Jerry Moncus.