Thirty Three Indicted in Special Called Session of Grand Jury

Thirty three persons have been named in sealed indictments handed down by a special called session of the DeKalb County Grand Jury and all but one were the result of a lengthy investigation by the Sheriff’s Department into the illegal sale of narcotics and other crimes committed in DeKalb County.
Twenty six of those individuals have now been served with the indictments and arrested. They will appear in DeKalb County Criminal Court for arraignment on Monday, September 16 at 9:00 a.m.
The special session of the grand jury met on Monday, August 19 at the DeKalb County Courthouse.
Sheriff Patrick Ray told WJLE that while the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department led the investigation, the White County Sheriff’s Department and Alexandria Police Departments assisted. ” My drug detectives along with some of the deputies went out and did controlled drug buys. We also had some help from the White County Sheriff’s Department. I contacted Sheriff Oddie Shoupe and he gave me a couple of his drug detectives to assist us in some of the cases. The Alexandra Police Department went with us on a couple of cases. I want to thank Sheriff Shoupe of White County and Chief Mark Collins of the Alexandria Police Department for helping us and working together to get rid of some drugs and get them off our streets,” said Sheriff Ray.
Although meth has been on the rise again lately, Sheriff Ray said prescription pills still seems to be the drug of choice among dealers and users. ” Even though my department has found meth labs and some other departments here in the county have been able to get meth labs, we’re still seeing that the sale of prescription drugs is our number one drug problem. Dilaudid is still a very abused drug here in DeKalb County. It is a pain drug that we see being sold out on the street,” said Sheriff Ray.
“Some of the drugs we bought during this controlled drug buy were Dilaudid, Crack Cocaine, Hydrocodone, Xanax, Methadone, Morphine, Roxycodone, Percocet, Mushrooms, and Suboxone. There were two Marijuana grows, a Meth lab, and we worked some burglaries and thefts. There were a total of thirty three individuals charged with various crimes. We charged one man with aggravated exploitation of a minor,” said Sheriff Ray.
During this investigation, drug transactions were made at various locations across the county. “We bought drugs or made some kind of drug case in different places. Some of the drug buys were made at locations on Highway 70 east and Highway 70 west all the way to Alexandria. We did some in Alexandria, in Dowelltown, and here in Smithville on Highway 70 east and Sparta Highway. Some were done down Highway 56 south and Highway 56 north on Cookeville Highway. Also down the Short Mountain Highway,” he said.
“I want to commend my department on a job well done, especially my drug detectives and the deputies that were able to do the undercover controlled drug buys. We have already started into our next phase to prepare for another one. You’ll be hearing from it shortly. We still have a few persons to pick up (arrest from this investigation). We will be serving those indictments and announcing those as we get them,” he said.
Meanwhile, if you know of a crime occurring in your community, Sheriff Ray urges you to contact him or call the crime tip line to report it. “My department and I are very committed to the investigation of the illegal sale of narcotics in our county. If you have any information on any crime including drug crimes or burglaries and thefts then we urge you to call our crime tip line which is 464-6400 to report it. You can be anonymous when you report it or you can call me here at the jail and we can talk about it. My number is 597-4935,” he said.
“We just want to thank everyone who has called during this last drug round up that we had and also the investigations that we have been doing. We receive a whole lot of tips up here and I appreciate each and every one who calls and gives me some bit of drug information. I ask the citizens of our county to continue to do that. I want you to continue to be our eyes and ears in your communities. If you have any kind of problem like that we want to know about it. We’ll try our best to work on it and see what we can get done,” Sheriff Ray concluded.
Those indicted who have been served and arrested to date include:
45 year old Brett Allen Anderson of East Bryant Street- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid & Morphine) (2 counts); and Sale of an Illegal Drug in a Drug Free Zone (1 count). His bond is $80,000.
22 year old Joshua Lee Anderson of Short Mountain Highway- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule III drug (Hydrocodone) (2 counts). His bond is $40,000.
28 year old Amanda Alice Atnip of Oakley Road, Dowelltown- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule III drug (Hydrocodone) (1 count). Her bond is $20,000.
25 year old Brittany Danielle Barnes of Belk Road, Smithville-Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Crack Cocaine & Dilaudid, (2 counts); Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug in a Drug Free Zone (2 counts). Her bond is $100,000.
20 year old Natalie Gail Barrett of Smith Road, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule I drug (Mushrooms) (1 count). Her bond is $50,000.
39 year old Gary Lane Hale of Morgan Drive, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Morphine) (1 count). His bond is $30,000.
52 year old Kenny Ray Herman of West Main Street, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Methadone) (1 count). His bond is $30,000.
22 year old Brittany Leanna Mingle of Milligan Lane, Liberty-Sale & Delivery of a Schedule IV drug (Xanax) (2 counts); and Sale & Delivery of a Schedule IV drug in a Drug Free Zone (1 count). Her bond is $50,000.
32 year old Amanda May Hicks of Smith Road, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (2 counts). Her bond is $60,000.
31 year old Halton Wayne Hicks of Jennings Lane, Smithville-Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (1 count). His bond is $30,000.
51 year old Glenda Kay Lemons of Kendra Drive, Smithville-Sale & Delivery of a Schedule III drug (Hydrocodone) (1 count). Her bond is $20,000
36 year old Lisa Michelle Porterfield of Hendrixson Hollow Road, Dowelltown- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (1 count). Her bond is $30,000.
56 year old Billy Joe Rigsby of Morgan Drive, Smithville– Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (1 count). His bond is $30,000.
28 year old Michael Andrew Snyders of West Main Street, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule III drug (Hydrocodone) (1 count). His bond is $20,000.
44 year old Theresa Dianna Tittle of Vaughn Lane, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (1 count). Her bond is $30,000.
48 year old Marla Adele Turner of Morgan Drive, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (2 counts). Her bond is $60,000.
43 year old Comer Thomas Vance of Meadowbrook Drive, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (1 count); Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug in a Drug Free Zone (1 count). His bond is $50,000.
40 year old Melisha Renee Martin of Morgan Drive, Smithville- Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug (Dilaudid) (2 counts); Sale & Delivery of a Schedule II drug in a Drug Free Zone (2 counts). Her bond is $100,000.
27 year old William Carl Fredrick of Earlie Bain Road, Dowelltown-Manufacture of a Schedule VI drug (Growing Marijuana). His bond is $10,000.
38 year old Stephen Jason Moore of Cookeville Highway, Smithville- Manufacture of a Schedule VI drug (Growing Marijuana). His bond is $20,000.
35 year old Jeremy Austin Scruggs of Highland Avenue, Smithville & 30 year old Brandon Jeromie Gurley of Foster Road, Smithville- Co-indicted on charges of Initiation of a Process to Manufacture Methamphetamine (Meth Lab). Bond for each is $50,000.
49 year old Tony Eugene Beasley of Cario Road, Gallatin-Aggravated Burglary & Theft of Property. His bond is $30,000.
21 year old Dakota James Stith of Dry Creek Road, Smithville- Aggravated Burglary & Theft of Property (4 counts). His bond is $120,000.
19 year old Clayton Daniel Gott of Blue Springs Road, Smithville- Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor (3 counts). His bond is $30,000.
43 year old David Dwight Caperton of Fox Hill Road, Baxter- Domestic Assault. His bond is $5,000. This case against Caperton was presented to the Grand Jury by a private citizen and not the Sheriff’s Department.