Deputy sheriff pleads guilty to lying in Ohio drug case

CLEVELAND (AP) — A deputy sheriff has pleaded guilty to a charge accusing him of lying at a drug trial where a Mansfield businessman was convicted in 2005.

Charles Metcalf, a Richland County deputy sheriff, entered the plea Thursday in U.S. District Court, where one day earlier a federal drug agent appeared as a defendant in a related investigation.

Lee Lucas has pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to perjury, making false statements and other charges for allegedly framing 17 people in undercover drug buys in Mansfield.

Metcalf pleaded guilty to violating a person’s civil rights in testimony against one of the 17 people in drug deals that prosecutors say Lucas supervised.

The 46-year-old Metcalf could face up to one year in prison at his sentencing Nov. 5.