CANTON, Miss. (WJTV) – A Canton man pled guilty to framing his ex-wife for drug possession.

Madison and Rankin Counties’ District Attorney Bubba Bramlett announced that Kenneth Ray Jackson, 47, pled guilty to transfer of 10 to 20 dosage units of methamphetamine as a non-violent habitual offender. Jackson was sentenced to 18 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) without the possibility of parole.

On June 10, 2024, Madison County deputies received a call from a man who identified himself as Tony. He told officers that a female Nissan employee was dealing large amounts of drugs and would be at work that day.

Narcotics investigators began looking into the claims by surveilling the woman’s car. However, Bramlett said investigators became suspicious of Jackson’s claims when they realized that he had given them a false name and failed to inform officers that the woman was actually his estranged wife.

While investigators were observing the woman’s vehicle, they said Jackson called them back and stated that there would be 23 ecstasy pills in her gas cap. Shortly after speaking with Jackson, the investigators observed Jackson himself pull up to the victim’s vehicle and deposit a baggie of drugs inside her gas cap.

Jackson was arrested and charged with the transfer of a controlled substance.

Officers said the female inside Nissan consented to a search of her car, and officers retrieved the bag of ecstasy pills. According to Bramlett, the woman told officers Jackson was her estranged husband, and she had received a protective order against him four days before the incident.

Bramlett said Jackson is a habitual offender having been previously convicted of uttering a forgery, felonious child abuse and burglary.