First Posted: 1/14/2015
BOWLING GREEN — A former Lima Central Catholic basketball star is facing up to three years prison when he is sentenced in March for selling drugs.
Anthony D. Hutchins, 41, of Columbus, pleaded guilty to aggravated trafficking with a forfeiture specification. The charge is a third-degree felony.
Hutchins is scheduled to be sentenced March 10 in Wood County Common Pleas Court.
In exchange for the plea, the prosecution agreed to dismiss four other counts that included two counts of aggravated possession of drugs, aggravated trafficking in drugs, and possession of criminal tools.
Hutchins is out of jail on bail.
Hutchins was stopped on Interstate 75 driving south at 1:06 a.m. March 4, said Lt. Bill Stidham of the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigative unit at district headquarters.
Hutchins was stopped in Perrysburg for speeding but a trooper searched the car after smelling marijuana, officials said. During the stop a trooper found him in possession of 362 oxycontin and oxymorphone pills, Stidham said.
The trooper also confiscated an undisclosed amount of cash, Stidham said. A passenger in the car with Hutchins was not charged.
Hutchins also had a small amount of marijuana inside the car, which would be a minor misdemeanor, Stidham said.
Hutchins finished his LCC basketball career as the fourth leading scorer and helped lead the Thunderbirds to two state tournament appearances. He also was a member of the 1989 state champion 400-meter relay team. His athletic abilities earned him a scholarship to Walsh University. Hutchins was a 1992 graduate of LCC.
Hutchins was inducted into the LCC Hall of Fame this year and was honored during a basketball game and at an awards banquet in February.
