The second trial for a Lake City man charged in Carroll County District Court with drug trafficking has been scheduled for this summer. According to court records, 33-year-old Nicholas Russell Pickering’s not guilty plea to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a class C felony, was filed last week, and a judge has signed an order setting his jury trial to begin on Tuesday, July 13 with a pretrial conference June 28. Pickering was arrested on Feb. 17 by the Carroll Police Department after he was found to be in possession of narcotics, unused baggies and a scale. Pickering was scheduled to go to trial next week on a separate drug trafficking charge. However, an order scheduling a plea hearing for May 3 was filed Monday, so it is unlikely that case will go before a jury. Between the two charges, Pickering faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
