BOARDMAN — Edward Knox, 31, of Boston Avenue, Youngstown, is scheduled to appear today before Mahoning County Boardman Court Judge Joseph Houser on one felony count of trafficking in fentanyl.

Knox was arrested Tuesday on a warrant police obtained Monday after they say they completed an undercover drug buy in May that involved Knox and a confidential informant.

A Boardman Police Department report states the informant spoke to an officer in April about Knox dealing fentanyl in the township. The informant positively identified Knox from an Ohio BMV photograph, the report states.

In May, the Narcotics Enforcement Unit provided the informant with official authorized funds to purchase fentanyl from Knox at an undisclosed location in Boardman. After the purchase, a field test confirmed the purchased substance to be fentanyl, and later results from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation lab verified the presence of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl, which is an illicit synthetic opioid that is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, the report states.

Neither court records nor the police report explain the gap between the controlled buy in May and obtaining the warrant Monday.

Just after 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, however, a police lieutenant on patrol saw a Morgan Linens truck with its tail lights out on Market Street. Police stopped the truck on Karago Avenue. The driver provided his license and police identified him as Knox, the report states. He was arrested and booked into Mahoning County jail, but released later that day.

Knox also had felony drug trafficking charges from 2014, for which he received one year of probation.

dpompili@vindy.com