COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kenneth D. Triplett, 38, of Chicago, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for trafficking narcotics in Guernsey County.
A federal jury convicted Triplett in May 2025 on three drug charges, including possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin, cocaine, and cocaine base. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley sentenced him to 240 months behind bars.
According to court documents and trial testimony, the Guernsey County Sheriff’s Office received a tip in April 2024 that Triplett was in the area to distribute drugs. Authorities said he had traveled to Guernsey County with distributable amounts of narcotics after being in the Columbus area.
Within 12 hours of receiving the tip, deputies located Triplett’s vehicle at a Quality Inn in Cambridge and arrested him nearby. He was also wanted on a full extradition warrant from Minnesota.
A search of his hotel room uncovered cocaine, more than 230 grams of cocaine base, an open vacuum-sealed bag of fentanyl mixed with heroin, and a digital scale, according to authorities.
Prosecutors said Triplett has multiple prior drug convictions across several jurisdictions, often in rural communities. Sentencing documents state his trafficking activity has been linked to at least one nonlethal overdose.
The sentence was announced by Dominick S. Gerace II, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Detroit Acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey, and Jeffrey D. Paden.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler J. Aagard and Kevin W. Kelley prosecuted the case.
