Indy Chronicler

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — A Zionsville man has been charged after police found nearly 6,000 doses of drugs, including cocaine and LSD, as well as thousands of dollars in cash at his home in early February.

According to court documents, filed earlier this month in Boone County, 41-year-old Austin Ritchie was charged with:

• One count of dealing in cocaine, manufacture/deliver/finance – 10 or more grams, a Level 2 felony
• One count of dealing in a schedule I controlled substance with weight at least 28 grams, a Level 2 felony
• One count of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance with weight at least 28 grams, a Level 2 felony
• One count of possession of cocaine of 28 or more grams, a Level 3 felony
• One count of dealing in a schedule 1 controlled substance with weight between five and 10 grams, a Level 4 felony
• Four counts of possession of a controlled substance, a Level 6 felony
• Three other misdemeanor drug charges

On Feb. 2, officials with the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force went to a Zionsville home after a Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana tip reported that Ritchie sold drugs, had “large amounts of cash and possesses multiple firearms.”

When police made contact with Ritchie, they reportedly asked Ritchie if he would allow a search of his bedroom in the home. The documents said Ritchie agreed, “if he could be given five minutes to tidy up first.” Before the search, Ritchie told police “they would locate some personal use drug items.”

When police searched Ritchie’s bedroom and adjoining bathroom, they reportedly found a digital scale with cocaine residue, as well as other drug related items. The documents said that when the scale was discovered, Ritchie indicated “he may want detectives to stop searching and may want to speak with an attorney” but later consented to law enforcement completing their search.

Other items reportedly recovered in the search included:

• Around 366 grams of cocaine, which police estimate is around 3,660 doses.
• Around 46 grams of LSD gel tabs, which police estimate was around 2,158 hits.
  • This included one small sheet and one partial sheet of suspected LSD with a design of Yoda wearing Grateful Dead headphones sitting on R2-D2.
• Around 28.3 grams of suspected Ketamine and around 17.3 grams of MDMA
• Around $73,000 in cash located in a safe, as well as a number of firearms.

In an interview with police, Ritchie reportedly told police he used multiple drugs for personal use, including MDMA, cocaine, LSD and Ketamine. He reportedly said that all the drugs located in his bedroom and bathroom belonged to him.

Ritchie also reportedly told police that he sells cocaine to around 10-20 customers weekly and has sold LSD, Ketamine and MDMA in the past year.

According to court documents, Ritchie’s pretrial conference is scheduled for April 17 while his jury trial is scheduled for May 28.