Rhinelander - Last week, police arrested six Rhinelander residents in connection to dealing and using heroin.

Today, one of the six appeared in Oneida County Court.

Rogerick Simmons, 44, pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of selling and dealing heroin.

He was brought in from Oneida County Jail for his appearance. Judge Patrick O'Melia granted his request for a speedy trial, which means the trial will be completed within 60 to 90 days.

"In this situation, my client believes we'll be able to prove certain things, and he doesn't want to spend a significant amount of time in jail waiting for a trial," said Richard Voss, Simmons's attorney. "Based on what my client says, I think we have a reasonable chance to mount a defense to the charges, but I feel more comfortable reassessing that after we get the discovery."

Voss expects to see the discovery, or state's evidence against him, within the next two weeks.

The criminal complaint says Simmons sold about a gram of heroin to an Oneida County Sheriff's Office informant April 12.

He was arrested April 13 and allegedely tried to swallow bundles of heroin while officers searched him.

They also found $6,000 cash on Simmons, including $900 marked by police for their informant to use in the heroin purchase.

Simmons is due back in court June 18 for a pretrial conference.