Jury splits decision on Lawton drug trafficking case

A Comanche County jury gave prosecutors a split decision Tuesday in the trial of a Lawton man accused of aggravated fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Following two days of trial in Comanche County District Judge Jay Walker’s courtroom, Ty Dontrell Howard, 27, of Lawton, was found guilty of felony charges of aggravated trafficking in fentanyl and endangering others while eluding/attempting to elude police, records indicate. He was found not guilty of trafficking in methamphetamine, and a misdemeanor count of failure to stop at a red light.

Two felony charges filed earlier against Howard, child endangerment by permitting the presence of drug manufacturing, and maintaining a place for keeping/selling drugs, were amended and removed by the district attorney’s office on Jan. 9.

Investigators said Howard carried out several containers of suspected drugs from a home at 1215 SW D in April 2023 before leaving with the items in his vehicle. During an attempted traffic stop by an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, he was found guilty of leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase

Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents reported finding 8.68 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of Howard’s car along with a safe containing 6,306 fentanyl pills and 338.5 grams of methamphetamine, according to the affidavit. A baggie containing 22.5 grams of ecstasy/MDMA powder also was found in a bag in the car’s backseat.

The jury recommended Howard serve 10 years in prison for the trafficking count and five years for the eluding count.

Walker confirmed the jury’s recommendation Thursday morning during formal sentencing.