Three men have been indicted following a surge of heroin overdoses that occurred in the Nicholasville area last month.
A federal grand jury in Lexington indicted 27-year-old Jeffrey Ruggiero, 34-year-old Jerrod Doolin and 24-year-old Lamar "Juice" Thornton on drug conspiracy charges Thursday.
The indictment says the three conspired to distribute a mixture containing detectable amounts of heroin and the elephant tranquilizer carfentanyl between July and January.
Emergency crews responded to nine overdoses in 24 hours in Jessamine County on Jan. 9 and 10. One death, suspected of being a drug overdose, happened shortly before that period.