A 68-year-old man from the tiny Nelson County community of Boston is facing a stack of felony charges after investigators say they pulled more than 11 ounces of methamphetamine, multiple firearms, marijuana and a large amount of cash out of his home. Daniel Lacy was arrested last month following a search warrant executed at his residence, and he now sits in the Nelson County Jail awaiting the next steps in what authorities describe as an ongoing investigation.
According to WDRB, detectives with the Greater Hardin Narcotics Task Force served the warrant at Lacy's home on September 18, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Investigators seized the methamphetamine along with guns, cash and marijuana, the outlet reported, citing the Nelson County Sheriff's Office.
Boston itself is an unincorporated community of roughly 250 residents in rural Nelson County. The scale of the seizure in a hamlet that small underscores how methamphetamine distribution networks have pushed deep into central Kentucky's smallest towns.
Charges Stack Up Against Lacy
Lacy was charged with trafficking in a controlled substance involving two grams or more of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, cultivating fewer than five marijuana plants, and persistent felony offender, per the same report. The trafficking charge is one of the six counts Lacy faces.
The felon-in-possession charge carries its own weight. Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is normally a Class D felony punishable by one to five years in prison under KRS § 527.040, but that escalates to a Class C felony carrying five to 10 years if the firearm is a handgun, Justia Law notes. The marijuana cultivation count, by contrast, is comparatively minor on its own — cultivating fewer than five plants is a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $500, according to the Legislative Research Commission, though Kentucky law presumes intent to sell once a grower hits five or more plants.
Lacy also faces a persistent felony offender charge, one of the six counts in the case.
A Task Force With a Track Record
The Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force operates under the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas initiative, which includes Hardin County among its designated areas, according to the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy. The initiative provides funding and supports coordination and drug-trafficking assistance among agencies.
This isn't the task force's first large regional haul. In April 2023, Nelson County Sheriff's Office detectives working alongside the task force executed a search warrant in neighboring Washington County that turned up two pounds of methamphetamine, four long guns and $9,000 in illegal drugs, the sheriff's office said in a statement reported on Facebook by WBRT. Regional task forces in central Kentucky routinely cross county boundaries to chase down distribution networks that don't respect those lines.
Meth's Persistent Role in Overdose Deaths
Methamphetamine seizures like this one carry weight beyond the charges filed against one man. Methamphetamine was present in 49.5% of Kentucky's 1,110 fatal drug overdoses in 2025, remaining one of the top two drugs involved in overdose deaths alongside fentanyl, according to the 2025 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report cited by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. That comes even as the state recorded a 22.9% drop in total overdose deaths in 2025 compared to the year before.
The decline builds on a longer trend. Kentucky's drug overdose deaths fell 30.2% in 2024 compared with 2023, marking the largest single-year percentage decrease in drug mortality in the Commonwealth's history, per the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center. Fentanyl was present in 62.3% of those 2024 deaths while methamphetamine was detected in 50.8%, the same research center found.
Law enforcement has set up a tip line for anyone with information about suspected drug activity. The Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force can be reached at 270-769-0694. Police indicated the investigation into Lacy's case remains active, with additional arrests and charges expected as it continues.
