Daniel Lee Murphey, 37, of Catawissa has been sentenced to 15 years after he violated probation he received in August 2021 for felony charges in Jefferson County, court records show.
Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert executed the sentence on June 4.
Murphey had been on five years’ probation after pleading guilty to delivery of a controlled substance, first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and two counts of possession of a controlled substance following arrests in March 2019 and September 2020, according to court documents.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Lindsay E. Whalen prosecuted the case.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputies first arrested Murphey on March 21, 2019, after two detectives saw him sell fentanyl to two women outside the Quality Inn and Suites hotel, 3610 W. Outer Road, in Arnold, the probable-cause statement said.
The detectives stopped the vehicle the women were traveling in near the hotel, and the women told investigators they had purchased fentanyl from Murphey. The detectives returned to the hotel and discovered the 2015 Chevrolet Impala that Murphey had driven to the hotel had been reported stolen, the report said.
The detectives watched Murphey exit the hotel and go to the Impala. When one of the detectives, who was wearing a vest that said “Sheriff” across the front of it, started to approach Murphey, he ran away from the detective, according to the report.
Murphey fell while running, and the detective arrested him without further incident. Murphey asked the detective, “Is this about the car?” the report said.
When the detectives searched a room Murphey had rented, they found 12 capsules containing a white powdery substance in a bag hidden under a mattress and another capsule on the floor. Murphey said he sold fentanyl to the two women, according to the report.
A Sheriff’s Office deputy arrested Murphey again on Sept. 10, 2020, after stopping a 2007 Nissan SUV on Gravois Road near Carol Park Road in House Springs. The deputy stopped the SUV because it had license plates that were not registered to the Nissan, the case’s probable-cause statement said.
When the deputy searched the SUV’s trunk, he found a black pouch that had five blue-and-white capsules and a bag that had a crystal-like substance and a capsule with an unknown substance. Murphey told the deputy the capsules and bag contained fentanyl and that it belonged to him, the report said.
On Aug. 4, 2021, Murphey pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to 15 years for delivery of a controlled substance, 10 years for first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, 10 years for each of the possession of a controlled substance charges and seven years for resisting arrest. The sentences were to be served concurrently, or at the same time, court documents said.
However, the sentences were suspended, and Murphey was placed on five years’ probation, according to court records.