A former Georgia State Patrol trooper will serve 12 years in prison for his role as a key supplier of methamphetamine in Cherokee County.
Trent David McWhirter of Canton pleaded guilty July 1 in Cherokee County Superior Court to trafficking in methamphetamine and narcotics possession, county authorities said Friday.
A judge sentenced McWhirter, 37, to 30 years in prison, suspended after 12 years, with the balance of the sentence to be served on probation.
He also was fined $200,000 plus court-imposed surcharges.
McWhirter was the focus of a six-month investigation.
Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad agents and county sheriff's officers arrested McWhirter in February. He had quanities of methamphetamine, Ecstasy and other narcotics on his possession, according to authorities.
He had been on probation at the time for a prior arrest in 2004.
Agents determined McWhirter had been working with a drug trafficking network out of Gwinnett County.
McWirther was a state trooper for just over 10 years, a Georgia State Patrol spokesman said. He resigned in September 2000 following allegations of misconduct involving an off-duty domestic dispute.
According to the conditions of his sentencing, McWhirter cannot live in Cherokee County or its surrounding counties until the end of his sentence.
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