A Dayhoit man was found guilty by a jury in Harlan Circuit Court on Wednesday on a drug charge.

James H. “Bimbo” Gooden, 45, appeared in court before a jury of his peers to stand trial on a first-degree trafficking a controlled substance charge.

Gooden was indicted by a Harlan County Grand Jury in April after he was investigated by Kentucky State Police Det. Keith Saylor.

According to the indictment, on or about Oct. 13, 2006, Gooden sold two oxycodone tablets to a police informant for the amount of $60.

During the trial Wednesday, Saylor, trooper Brian Greene, Jamie Hibbard from the Kentucky Crime Lab, and the police informant all testified.

At one point, the video surveillance footage of the drug transaction was also played for the jury.

A motion for directed verdict was overruled by Judge Russell Alred.

A directed verdict occurs when at the end of a party’s case, the judge determines that there is no evidence to support the party’s claim or that the evidence presented does not meet the applicable burden of proof, the judge may direct the jury to render a verdict for the other party.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty in the case and recommended five years in penitentiary.

Alred scheduled Gooden’s sentencing date for Dec. 4.