Locally heavy thunderstorms during the morning will give way to partly cloudy skies this afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch..
Tonight
Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
A judge delayed preliminary hearings Tuesday afternoon for two men charged with fentanyl distribution.
Shawn Samuelson, 22, appeared in Riley County District Court via Zoom; his attorney requested a continuance. The same motion occurred last time he appeared in Judge William Malcolm’s courtroom as the court has appointed to him multiple attorneys, but they have all stepped down because of “conflicts of interest.”
Samuelson’s attorney said he requested the continuance because he hasn’t had enough time to discuss the case with his client. Malcolm set the new status examination for Sept 19.
Police arrested Samuelson along with Noah Baker, 19, of Junction City and McKaine Farr, 21, of Wamego, on June 22 for distribution of a controlled substance causing death. The three men dealt drugs laced with fentanyl to 18-year-old Thomas DeLoach of Manhattan.
Samuelson was held at Riley County Jail at the time of his arrest on unrelated charges and is now in jail for the distribution charge.
In another fentanyl case heard in court Tuesday, Malcolm granted a request to continue the status hearing for Caziah Self, 21, of Manhattan until Oct. 3.
Self of Manhattan in charged with distribution of a controlled substance and causing great bodily harm to 31-year-old Chancellor Copenhaver in August 2022. Self is charged with aggravated battery and a felony drug violation as well.
According to an affidavit obtained by The Mercury, Copenhaver entered a white Toyota Avalon on Aug. 24, 2022, at the 2719 Anderson Ave. Walgreens.
He willingly got in the vehicle in hopes to buy oxycodone, a drug commonly laced with fentanyl.
Copenhaver snorted the substance through his nose to cause an overdose. Emergency medical responders gave him CPR and naloxone to save his life, then transported him to Via Christi hospital.
He identified Self as the driver, leading to Self’s arrest.
