CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- A judge sentenced a Newton man to at least two decades in prison in connection with a drug trafficking case, according to District Attorney Scott Reilly.

On Thursday, July 31, a jury found 48-year-old Tyrus Terrill Sanders guilty of trafficking fentanyl by transportation, trafficking fentanyl by possession and maintaining vehicle/dwelling/place for controlled substance.

This concluded a four-day trial and came after about an hour and a half of deliberations split over two days. Superior Court Judge Peter Knight from Henderson County then sentenced Sanders to 20-26 years and to pay a mandatory $1.5 million fine.

Authorities say they had Sanders under surveillance because of suspicions that he was selling narcotics when he was stopped by a Catawba

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