Maybe you can help explain this or maybe some readers or county officials can explain this.

Recently, I was reading the Herald-Dispatch and also looking through The Ironton Tribune when I came across the court news for Lawrence County.

To my surprise there was a person in the paper that was charged with selling heroin and also charged with complicity in the Ironton area.

Well, this person was released on five years community controlled sanctions. Well, when I went into investigating this story I found through public records that this is not his first run-in with the law.

This man has had drug charges in the past. He comes out and does the same thing. Nothing happens. He gets a fine and a slap on the wrist. My question here is: What is wrong with this picture?

Who is getting paid for this under the table? I know these are strong questions but they need to be answered by someone.

We have a drug dealer again on our streets, convicted of selling heroin and he gets five years community controlled sanctions. This is all public record.

Do you think that your readers or some officials here in Ironton can answer this?

We have a drug task force that is trying to do their job and they do it pretty well. They are trying to rid this city of drugs, but how can they do it when the court is turning then loose?

Should our drug task force stand outside and say, “Well, why should we do this? They’ll be turned loose with no jail time.”

I do not, as a taxpaying person in this town who works and thanks god for that, want a drug dealer on our streets where our children and grandchildren are.

I would appreciate any kind of insight from you or the readers of Ironton or the officials on this. I look forward to hearing from anyone.

Donna Thompson, Ironton