Following a preliminary hearing Monday, May 6, charges were held against a Butler man who was accused of dealing drugs after a large amount of crack cocaine and fentanyl were found in a city apartment.

James T. Matuke III, 35, was charged April 16 with felonies of drug sales, conspiracy and misdemeanor counts of drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Matuke was charged alongside Marki M. Seezox, 34, and Kelly L. Wilson, 55, after a search warrant was served April 16 at a West Cunningham Street apartment. Seezox’s and Wilson’s preliminary hearings were continued Monday.

Matuke appeared Monday before District Judge William Fullerton with defense attorney Justin Carpenter.

Ryan Doctor, Butler city police officer and member of the county drug task force, said when the search warrant was executed, Matuke was inside the West Cunningham Street apartment.

“(He was) basically dead center in the hallway, lying down,” he said.

A search of the residence yielded 37.5 grams of crack cocaine, 364 full stamp bags of suspected fentanyl, about 27.5 grams of an unknown white powder, about 2.7 grams of an unknown purple rock-like substance, four digital scales, suboxone strips and a box of clear plastic baggies, according to Doctor.

The majority of the drugs were found in a laundry basket in one room, Doctor said, near some of Matuke’s belongings.

“(The drugs were) near some sweatsuits we knew Mr. Matuke and Miss Seezox had worn on previous occasions,” he said.

Carpenter said proximity to the drugs did not indicate ownership of them.

“Whatever was found in that laundry basket that is being attributed to Mr. Matuke should be attributed to the owner of the home,” he said.

Fullerton ultimately held all the charges over for the Butler County Court of Common Pleas.