Greenville, MS—Roy Merrill, aka “Roy Epps,” pled guilty Thursday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court to five counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent, District Attorney W. Dewayne Richardson announced today.
Set to go to trial, Merrill instead pled guilty before Circuit Judge Margaret Carey-McCray. All but one of Merrill’s charges stemmed from two indictments handed down by the October, 2016 and April, 2017 Washington County Grand Juries. He was charged by Bill of Information for his most recent offense.
In the afternoon hours of December 3, 2015, Merrill was arrested after Investigators of the Greenville Police Department’s Special Operations Division executed a no knock search warrant at his residence where they located over 1,500 grams of illegal narcotics. Merrill posted bond and was later arrested again after the execution of a subsequent warrant at the same residence in September of 2016 where Investigators located more drugs. Merrill’s latest arrest in January of 2017 resulted from the execution of a third search warrant at the same residence where he was found in possession of over 18 pounds of illegal narcotics.
Merrill was sentenced to the District Attorney’s recommendation of 25 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
The cases against Merrill were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kaylon A. McCou and John Herzog Jr. McCou expressed his gratitude for the work of the Special Operations Investigators: “We thank the Special Operations Division of the Greenville Police Department for their diligent efforts in keeping illegal drugs off of our streets and out of the hands of Greenville’s citizens, especially our youth.”
Contact: W. Dewayne Richardson District Attorney, Fourth Circuit Court District | 662-378-2105