Couple from Columbia pleads guilty to heroin trafficking

Two people from Columbia pleaded guilty Monday to heroin trafficking.

20-year-old Alec Ell and 20-year-old Angelica Polston pleaded guilty to charges from an April 2 indictment. The two were boyfriend and girlfriend.

Ell pleaded guilty to distributing 100 grams or more of heroin in Boone Co. from July through October 2014.

Ell admitted that he sold a half gram of heroin in four separate baggies for $100 to an undercover police officer and a confidential informant three times in July 2014.

He also admitted to selling a quarter gram of heroin for $50 to an undercover Jefferson City Police detective in July 2014.

Both transactions took place in parking lots in Columbia.

Also in July 2014, Polston went with Ell to sell a half gram of heroin to an undercover Jefferson City Police officer for $100 near Hickman High School in Columbia.

Columbia Police spotted Ell and Polston while on patrol on 8th Street in October.

When the detective approached Ell and told him he had an active warrant for his arrest, Ell ran from police and led them on a short foot chase.

Ell was arrested, and officers found heroin packaged in baggies in his pocket.

Both Ell and Polston could face a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine.