Accused Medford heroin dealer faces federal charge

Nick Morgan, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.
·2 min read

Mar. 4—A Medford man arrested last month following a months long undercover drug investigation now faces a new federal charge.

Earl Richard Shamblin III, 39, is held in the Jackson County Jail on more than 20 felony drug charges accusing him of selling drugs to an informant working narcotics officers, according to jail records and court documents filed by the Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement task force.

On Feb. 19, MADGE detectives arrested Shamblin on accusations he sold black tar heroin five times between Nov. 11 and January 19 from his RV in the 200 block of Iowa Street, according to a MADGE affidavit filed in Shamblin's Jackson County Circuit Court case.

A grand jury indicted Shamblin Feb. 24 with 20 Class A felony charges surrounding alleged heroin deals involving MADGE that occurred within 1,000 feet of McLoughlin Middle school. The Jackson County District Attorney's office says the drug deals occurred Nov. 11, Nov. 19, Dec. 1, Dec. 10 and Jan. 19.

Two days after the grand jury's indictment, however, a federal heroin charge was filed in U.S. District Court in Medford.

According to an affidavit filed by a Homeland Security Investigations agent, Shamblin had been on MADGE's radar for approximately two years.

"Because of Shamblin's use of stash houses and knowledge of law enforcement techniques, law enforcement has utilized a variety of techniques to investigate Shamblin, including conducting five controlled buys with Shamblin utilizing a confidential informant," the federal agent stated in his four page affidavit.

The document describes how the informant purchased quantities of heroin ranging from 24 to 83 grams from Shamblin's RV parked on Iowa Street, and how in at least one of the drug deals, Shamblin allegedly used an unnamed "runner" to facilitate the deal on behalf of Shamblin.

Local and federal narcotics investigators say they ultimately found about 1-1 1/4/3 pounds of heroin linked to Shamblin at a Medford storage facility and buried at his sister's house.

Shamblin's sister, Brandy Rachel Shamblin, 33, of White City, faces heroin possession and evidence tampering charges in Jackson County Circuit Court. Documents filed by Medford police in the case accuse her of taking a backpack containing packages of heroin from a storage unit in the 400 block of Clark Street the day her brother was arrested, and burying the heroin packages in the back yard of a in the first block of Tripp Street in Medford.

Brandy Shamblin was booked in the Jackson County Jail and released on her own recognizance Feb. 19, jail and court records show. As of Wednesday evening, Earl Shamblin remained in jail on $502,500 bail.

Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or nmorgan@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MTCrimeBeat.

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