Gaston County Man Sentenced To Prison On Catawba County Charges

35-year-old Jonathan David Shamblin of Mount Holly was sentenced to serve six to eight years in prison following his conviction for drug and property offenses during Catawba County Superior Court on Tuesday (December 16). The Honorable Clifton H. Smith, Superior Court Judge from Catawba County, imposed terms of the active sentence after Shamblin entered a guilty plea to trafficking methamphetamine by possession and transportation, possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl, break/enter a motor vehicle and felony larceny. He also was assessed mandatory fines totaling $100,000 for the trafficking offenses.

A vehicle stop by deputies from the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office on June 19, 2023, led to a K-9 unit alert. A search yielded a trafficking amount of methamphetamine, along with fentanyl. A January 10, 2024, theft of a cooler, generator, gas can and drill from a truck in a local hotel parking lot was reported to Hickory Police Department. Investigators obtained video surveillance that helped them identify Shamblin as the culprit.

On September 22, 2024, HPD officers located Shamblin in the parking lot of a local hotel and detained him for multiple outstanding warrants. They found in his possession a clear plastic baggie with a white substance inside that turned out to be fentanyl. The Hickory Police Department and Catawba County Sheriff’s Office investigated the crimes.

Story: Rob Eastwood-WHKY