A Bowling Green man convicted of numerous counts of drug trafficking was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison, the harshest punishment to result from a far-ranging investigation into cocaine and marijuana deals.

Frederick Louis Miller, 57, was sentenced in Warren Circuit Court on seven counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

A jury convicted him in March of those counts, along with being a first-degree persistent felony offender, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving on a suspended license.

The Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office used evidence against Miller at trial connecting him to seven separate drug deals between Jan. 30, 2014, and July 18, 2014, in which cocaine was sold to a confidential informant.

According to court records, the cocaine that Miller sold in the transactions amounted to about 351 grams, or slightly more than 12 ounces.

The jury acquitted Miller of engaging in organized crime-criminal syndicate, an offense that carries as many as 20 years in prison. 

Each trafficking count has a maximum punishment of five years in prison, but Miller’s sentence was enhanced by the jury to 18 years due to his prior felony convictions.

Warren Circuit Judge Steve Wilson said the evidence at trial showed Miller’s involvement in the drug trade.

“The record is replete with how intelligent he is, and to utilize those gifts and talents just to spread this poison in the community is very regrettable,” Wilson said.

Miller was arrested July 18, 2014, at Woodford Avenue and Fair Street by a Bowling Green Police Department officer who was aware that Miller had an active warrant against him.

“While searching his person I located three small plastic baggies of cocaine in his left front pocket and $132 in cash in several denominations,” the arrest citation for Miller stated.

A grand jury indicted Miller and 18 co-defendants in December 2014 following a long-term investigation into what authorities asserted was a multi-state drug trafficking organization that sold large quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, synthetic drugs and illegal prescription drug medication.

According to court records, the investigation employed three wiretaps, one of which was for a telephone number used by Miller. The other two wiretaps were for a different person’s phone with whom Miller had several conversations.

Several co-defendants have entered guilty pleas to charges that include engaging in organized crime, trafficking in marijuana and first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, but Miller’s 18-year sentence is the longest sentence anyone in the case has received thus far.

Criminal charges were dismissed against at least three co-defendants while cases against other co-defendants are pending, according to court records.

Miller has two pending criminal cases in which he is accused of failing to comply with the conditions of his sex offender registration. Wilson ordered Miller to return to court in those cases June 13.

He was convicted in Franklin Circuit Court in 1987 for first-degree attempted sodomy, which required him to register as a sex offender and serve a 14-year sentence, according to court records.

Miller was convicted in 2006 in Warren Circuit Court of four counts of third-degree rape, one count of third-degree sodomy and being a persistent felony offender and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Miller’s conviction in that case was overturned by the Kentucky Supreme Court in 2009 and he pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor, for which he received a one-year sentence.

— Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com.