Man pleads no contest on drug charges

CLOVIS — A Lubbock man pleaded no contest this week to a drug trafficking charge from January, with prosecutors dismissing five related charges as well as ensuing charges of battery on a peace officer for which he had been scheduled a trial Thursday.

Adebayo Isola, 31, was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison, part of a global plea agreement in which five other charges from Jan. 5 and three charges from April were dismissed. He is eligible for good-time at 50% and has pre-sentence confinement credit of 249 days, according to court records.

Clovis police arrested Isola early this year after receiving a BOLO (Be On the Lookout) from Lubbock police regarding a kidnapping, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Beltran said in court this week. Isola was charged then with two counts of trafficking controlled substances (a second-degree felony) and lesser charges ranging from petty misdemeanor to fourth-degree felony.

Four months later, Isola was charged with three counts of battery on a peace officer (4th degree felonies) for an incident April 4 at the Clovis jail that sent one detention officer to a hospital with injuries to her left wrist and arm. That officer returned to work within a week, with some bruising. Isola faced up to 4 1/2 years in jail if convicted on those charges in trial.

Isola requested last week that his defense attorney Ben Herrmann no longer represent him, and the latter served as standby counsel this week. Herrmann declined additional comment Thursday.

Judge Drew Tatum presided over the plea hearing this week.