Oak Ridge Today

Woman sentenced to 10 years, $50,000 restitution on meth charges

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Kimberly Hughes Welch

Kimberly Hughes Welch

 

CLINTON—A Knoxville woman received a 10-year sentence and was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution after pleading guilty Friday to a methamphetamine manufacturing charge following a raid at an apartment in Oak Ridge two years ago.

The meth lab raid occurred at an apartment on Tusculum Drive in central Oak Ridge on March 30, 2016. Agents found an active meth lab and items used to make meth, according to a property forfeiture affidavit filed by Russell Barker, who was director of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County. The raid followed an undercover or covert narcotics investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine.

Kimberly Hughes Welch, 51, pleaded guilty to four charges related to the raid in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday. Three are felonies, and one is a misdemeanor. [Read more…]

DA: Thousands of pills seized during investigation of international drug sales

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Pictured above from left to right are Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, of Anderson County; Moshin Agha, 30, of India; and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, of Anderson County. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff's Department)

Pictured above from left to right are Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, of Anderson County; Moshin Agha, 30, of India; and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, of Anderson County. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

 

Thousands of pills were seized from a home in Anderson County during an investigation of prescription pills being shipped into the United States for distribution, possibly from Internet sales from international sources, authorities said Monday.

Three people have been indicted and arrested in the case. One was detained overseas this month, in the international airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said Dave Clark, Seventh Judicial District attorney general.

The apprehension of Moshin Agha, 30, of India, was reported first by Oak Ridge Today on Monday. In a press release Monday afternoon, Clark said Agha, who had been entered into a national police database, was located at the international airport in Dubai sometime in the late evening of Friday, July 13, or early the next morning.

Agha’s co-defendants, Shelley Dawn Hicks Robbins, 44, and Gene McKinley Miller, 43, both of Anderson County, have already pleaded guilty in the case. [Read more…]

Defendant apprehended overseas after drug, money laundering indictment

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Moshin Agha

Moshin Agha

 

A defendant was apprehended overseas in Dubai after being indicted on drug and money laundering charges in Anderson County, according to court records.

Moshin Agha, 30, was picked up by authorities in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and then brought to the United States, according to a motion to increase bond and set bond conditions that was filed in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on July 18. After being brought to the United States, Agha was turned over to state authorities in New York.

Agha, who has an address listed in India, waived extradition and is now in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, according to court and jail records. It’s not clear when he was apprehended in Dubai and brought to New York.

A writ of criminal capias that had been issued November 2, 2016, ordered Agha to be detained and brought to Anderson County. It was executed with Agha’s arrest by Simon Byrne, acting director of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County, on Wednesday, July 18. [Read more…]

Three charged with financial exploitation, theft of more than $60,000

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Johnnie Shane Munsey

Johnnie Shane Munsey

An Andersonville man and two Andersonville women have been charged with financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable person and theft of more than $60,000, according to Anderson County court records.

The three are Johnnie Shane Munsey, 46; Phyllis Joan Spradling, 71; and Tammie Jo Munsey, 42. They were indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on July 10. The two exploitation and theft charges are both Class B felonies.

The three defendants, who all live at the same address in Andersonville, are accused of financially exploiting an elderly or vulnerable adult between December 30, 2015, through November 1, 2017, the court records said.

And they are accused of obtaining property, including but not limited to U.S. currency valued at more than $60,000, from the victim, Jimmy Spradling, without his consent, the indictments said. [Read more…]

Anderson County inmate charged with escape

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Damian Vincent Reynolds

Damian Vincent Reynolds

 

A Wartburg man who allegedly walked out of the Anderson County jail after standing in line with other inmates who were being released from the booking area has been arrested and charged with escape.

Damian V. Reynolds, 39, was brought to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton from Morgan County at about 6:33 p.m. Wednesday, July 11. He was standing in the booking area in his civilian clothes, and several other inmates were being booked out, according to an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Session Court, Division I, in Clinton.

Reynolds stood in line with those other inmates who were being released and proceeded to walk out the jail door without being released, the affidavit said. [Read more…]

TBI investigating inmate death at county jail

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April Michelle Beach

April Michelle Beach

 

Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an inmate at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on July 4.

April Michelle Beach, 36, of Rocky Top was picked up July 2 by an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy for a probation violation and a violation of her pre-trial release and booked into the jail.

On the morning of July 4, according to a source close to the investigation, she became ill and was transported by paramedics to the emergency room, where she was pronounced dead. [Read more…]

Investigation: Clinton man accused of threatening three judges

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Ronald Jennings Taylor

Ronald Jennings Taylor

 

 

Ronald Taylor Don Elledge Don Layton Nicki Cantrell Slider Cropped

CLINTON—A Clinton man accused of threatening to harm three Anderson County judges has a trial scheduled this week in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Details about the alleged threat aren’t available in an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in October.

The 53-year-old man has had a dispute with Anderson County officials about searches of people at the security checkpoint near the elevators on the third floor of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. He has told deputies that they do not have the right to search him, objected to the metal detectors there, claimed that civil rights are being violated, and asserted the right to defend himself with deadly force against an unlawful act by a police officer, according to court records.

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Two Maryville men accused of pretending to be licensed contractors

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Jonathan Presley

Jonathan Presley

 

Two Maryville men have been indicted after being accused of pretending to be licensed contractors in Anderson County, authorities said.

Before the indictments announced Tuesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had investigated a complaint of contractor fraud involving EPM Handyman Services. The business is owned by Jonathan Presley, 37, and Warren Presley, 45, both of Maryville. The investigation, which started in August 2017, was requested by Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark.

“During the course of the investigation, agents learned the men were paid to build a garage at a location in Anderson County in April 2017 but never completed the job,” the TBI said in a press release Tuesday. “The investigation further revealed that the men were not licensed contractors authorized to conduct this type of business.” [Read more…]

Alcohol involved in nearly half of all deadly crashes on July 4

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July 4 Traffic Safety

Alcohol leads to nearly half of all deadly crashes on July 4, according to information provided by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

“Every year, Americans head out on our nation’s highways to celebrate the Fourth of July at picnics, parties, parades, and more,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a press release. “Regrettably, for many, the celebrating includes drinking alcohol, which often leads to drunk driving on one of the most heavily traveled holidays of the year.”

To crack down on drunk driving around Independence Day, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will be out in full force, aggressively targeting those who put lives in danger, the press release said. [Read more…]

Exclusive: Cromwell, co-defendants sentenced to 20-50 years for fraudulent liens

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Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a hearing in Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a criminal court hearing in Nashville on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a hearing in criminal court in Nashville on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a criminal court hearing in Nashville on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

NASHVILLE—Five East Tennessee men who have been identified as “sovereign citizens,” including one from Oak Ridge and another from Clinton, were sentenced to 20-50 years in prison on Wednesday after filing fraudulent liens worth hundreds of millions of dollars against public officials, law enforcement officers, and others.

The five defendants—who included Austin Gary Cooper, 69, of Clinton, and Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, of Oak Ridge—had earlier been convicted of more than 200 counts of forgery and filing unlawful liens. That was at the end of a six-day trial in Davidson County Criminal Court in Nashville in late April.

Their sentencing hearing was Wednesday. It lasted more than three hours.

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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

BBQ Lunch for Lucas for Sheriff campaign on Saturday

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Mark Lucas for Sheriff BBQ Lunch Invitation June 30 2018

Paul and Wanda White will host a BBQ Lunch in support of the Mark Lucas For Sheriff campaign on Saturday, a press release said.

The lunch is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Underwood-McRae Pavilion on the Anderson County Fairgrounds on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton, the press release said.

“Please join us for good food and meet Mark Lucas for him to share his vision when elected sheriff of Anderson County,” the press release said.

Carjacking suspect arrested after hospital release

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Bradley Allen Thomas

Bradley Allen Thomas

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:30 p.m.

The suspect in the carjacking of a van occupied by a woman in a wheelchair on Saturday, followed by a police chase and crash, was arrested after he was released from a hospital on Thursday, authorities said.

Bradley Allan Thomas, 30, of Knoxville, was arrested by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies when he was released from the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. Thomas, who was seriously injured, had been taken to UT Medical Center after the Saturday afternoon crash at Clinton Highway and Powell Drive in Knox County.

Thomas is the suspect charged in the carjacking in the parking lot of the Red Lobster restaurant on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, Lucas said.

“Oak Ridge Police officers served their warrants related to the carjacking, and Thomas was also served with warrants on the pursuit by deputies,” Lucas said after Thursday’s arrest. [Read more…]