ASHLAND — Two Ashland men were sentenced to federal prison Monday by U.S. District Judge David Bunning for methamphetamine trafficking and firearm charges.

Ricardo Rothwell, 42, and Aaron McWhorter, 29, both from Ashland, were respectively sentenced to 72 months and 137 months.

Rothwell was sentenced after pleading guilty in May 2022 to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams of methamphetamine. According to his plea agreement, on July 10, 2021, Rothwell was stopped by law enforcement at a traffic stop, where they found him in possession of 96.8 grams of methamphetamine, 11.35 grams of fentanyl, .97 grams of cocaine and 2.2 grams of marijuana. 

Records show that investigators attached with the Boyd County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Unit had been surveilling Rothwell when he was pulled over for traffic infractions. While speaking with officers about the trafficking investigation, Rothwell gave up his hidey-hole inside a hollow fire extinguisher. Inside a fanny pack, deputies found heroin and cocaine, records show.

McWhorter was sentenced after pleading guilty in May 2022 to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. According to his plea agreement, on July 5, 2021, law enforcement was dispatched on reports of a man passed out in a vehicle, later identified as McWhorter. Upon running the tags, law enforcement discovered the car was stolen.

When the officer checked McWhorter’s pulse, he woke up and tried to reach down his pants. After a foot chase, a frisk turned up a loaded 9mm pistol in his pants.

Law enforcement also found 9.2 grams of meth and mixture of 1.2 grams of fentanyl, heroin, gabapentin and meth in another bag.