Oak Ridge Today

Sheriff: 25 indicted on drug charges

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Paul White

Paul White

Note: This story was updated at 11:45 a.m.

Twenty-five people were indicted on drug-related charges by an Anderson County Grand Jury in November after investigations by the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit, authorities said Wednesday.

Deputies have been out making arrests on these indictments while also continuing investigations on related drug activity, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a Wednesday morning press release.

The drug investigations were conducted during the last few months. White said the indictments were for the manufacture, sales, delivery, or possession of illegal drugs, and those indicted either sold to undercover agents or possessed drugs for resale.

“These indictments primarily include charges resulting from sale or possession for resale of prescription or legend drugs, as well as marijuana and methamphetamine-related offenses,” White said. [Read more…]

Frank questions indictment of appointee

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David Lynn Crowley

David Lynn Crowley

Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank has questions for District Attorney General Dave Clark concerning the indictment of Public Works Director and Building Commissioner David Crowley.

A letter hand-delivered from the mayor’s office to the DA’s office states that the five misdemeanor charges handed down against Crowley last week by a grand jury do not meet the legal standards for those charges.

Crowley, who was appointed by Mayor Frank in September of 2012, was charged last week with five counts of inspecting houses without the proper certification following a TBI investigation. He turned himself in at the Anderson County jail Thursday morning, posted a $1,000 bond, and returned to work that same day. [Read more…]

Search for Corwin continues, investigation not classified as criminal

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Erin Corwin

Erin Corwin (Photos courtesy San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department)

Three weeks after she disappeared, the search for an Oak Ridge woman living in southern California continues, but it has not been classified as a criminal investigation, authorities said Friday.

No suspects or “persons of interest” have been identified in the search for Erin Corwin, who is 20 and three months pregnant, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said. And no information is being released about possible witnesses, witness statements, or investigative techniques used during the search, the department said.

The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California, has reported that the Naval Criminal Investigative Services is assisting in the search by helping with the military aspects of the investigation. The newspaper said four search warrants have been served, and they have been used to search two vehicles, including Corwin’s car, and two apartments on the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, where Corwin lives with her husband, Cpl. Jonathan Corwin, who is also from Oak Ridge.

Authorities have said Corwin’s disappearance is suspicious and does not appear to be voluntary. So far, though, they have not announced finding any signs of her. [Read more…]

Nashville police search Andersonville home in case of missing mother

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Nashville Police on Anderson County Search Warrant

 

Nichole Burgess

Nichole Burgess

Nashville detectives investigating the disappearance of Nichole Burgess were in Andersonville on Thursday to execute a search warrant at the home of Caleb J. Cannon, the father of Burgess’ 10-year-old son, authorities said.

Crime scene specialists from the Nashville Police Department’s Identification Unit were also at the home at 306 Lambdin Road assisting in the search warrant process, a press release said.

Detectives have traveled to Anderson County several times over the past week as part of the investigation. On Tuesday, a search warrant was served on Cannon for a DNA sample, the release said.

In seeking the search warrants, lead Detective Steve Jolley from the police department’s Homicide-Cold Case Unit told an Anderson County judge that based on the investigation thus far, Burgess is likely dead and that Cannon is considered a person of interest, the Nashville Police Department said in the release. [Read more…]

Sen. Alexander’s chief of staff placed on leave during child pornography investigation

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:52 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Wednesday said his chief of staff in Washington, D.C., has been placed on leave as law enforcement agents search the man’s home to investigate child pornography allegations.

“I was just informed by the United States Senate legal counsel’s office that law enforcement agents are conducting a search of the personal residence of Ryan Loskarn, the chief of staff of my Washington, D.C., office, regarding allegations involving child pornography,” Alexander said in a Wednesday morning statement. “I am stunned, surprised, and disappointed by what I have learned. Based on this information, I immediately placed Mr. Loskarn on administrative leave without pay. The office is fully cooperating with the investigation.”

U.S. Postal Inspectors conducted the raid of Loskarn’s home, according to NBC News.

“The Postal Inspectors Service was involved in a law enforcement action in Southeast D.C.,” a spokesman for the agency told NBC News, declining further comment.

Loskarn is a longtime Alexander aide and was named the Tennessee Republican senator’s chief of staff in 2012, according to Politico. [Read more…]

TDEC provides violation notices, timeline on pet crematory where remains excavated

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Elliott Pet Service Excavation

Dump trucks remove pet remains on Wednesday that had been excavated from Elliott Pet Services in Morgan County. (Photo courtesy WATE-TV)

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation on Wednesday provided copies of the violation notices sent to the Morgan County crematory where animal remains were excavated last week after a state investigation.

TDEC also provided the media with an event timeline for September and October at Elliott Pet Services on Grouse Ridge Road, copies of annual inspection reports, and a state response to complainants Dana and Fegan Kenny.

You can read the documents here: [Read more…]

ORPD receives about $70,000 seized in drug trafficking investigation

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The Oak Ridge Police Department was one of 19 local and state law enforcement agencies that received part of $4.1 million in cash seized during a 2011 investigation of a Mexican drug trafficking organization.

The ORPD received $69,814, said U.S. Attorney William C. Killian of the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville. Other law enforcement agencies in California, North Carolina, and Tennessee received amounts ranging from about $35,000 to close to $420,000. [Read more…]

Anderson DA: Deputies acted appropriately in February shooting

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The Anderson County District Attorney’s Office has completed its investigation into the officer-involved shooting that left two Indiana residents dead in February, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

The investigation determined that Anderson County deputies Jonathan Bryant and J.D. Powell acted appropriately in the Feb. 29 incident, which began with a gas theft in Lake City, WYSH said.

Killed in the exchange of gunfire at the intersection of Old Emory Road and Blockhouse Valley Road were Shanna Lee Richardson and Michael Baker of Indiana.

[Read more…]

WSI reassigns Y-12 security director after test questions found in patrol vehicle

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Note: This story was updated at 1:49 p.m. Sept. 6.

The new director of the protective force at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been reassigned after a federal inspector allegedly found papers in a patrol vehicle that included answers to a test scheduled to be given to guards as part of an investigation following an unprecedented July 28 security breach.

A U.S. Department of Energy official said the stack of papers found last week also included a copy of a test designed to quiz a random sample of a few dozen guards on policies and procedures, as well as a “post check” interview sheet. The “post checks” question security officers on procedures and performance tests, such as deploying gas masks. The papers were not supposed to be shared, said the DOE official, speaking on background.

[Read more…]