Oak Ridge Today

Sheriff: 25 indicted on drug charges

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

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…]

Forty-two arrests in meth-making conspiracy in Anderson, Campbell

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Forty-two people have been arrested in a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine using pseudoephedrine in Anderson and Campbell counties, and another 17 have been indicted, authorities said.

The arrests and indictments of the 59 people on July 16 followed an investigation by more than a dozen agencies. The investigation found that those involved were buying pseudoephedrine at local pharmacies and using it to manufacture methamphetamine at various places in the two counties, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a Thursday press release.

Those indicted include: [Read more…]

Seventeen arrested, 26 indicted on drug-related charges, sheriff says

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Paul White

Paul White

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department arrested 17 people on drug-related charges on Monday and Tuesday following drug investigations during the last few months, Sheriff Paul White said Wednesday.

These charges are mostly result from the sale or possession for resale of prescription or legend drugs, as well as marijuana- and methamphetamine-related offenses, White said. The charges were included in 35 indictments against 26 people returned by an Anderson County Grand Jury in June and July after investigations by the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit.

White said deputies started making arrests on the indictments and related drug-activity investigations on Monday.

He said those indicted for the manufacture, sales, delivery, or possession either sold to undercover agents or were in possession of illegal drugs for resale. Of the 26 people indicted, 19 were charged with prescription narcotics offenses, three were charged with cocaine offenses, three were marijuana-related, and one was on methamphetamine charges. [Read more…]

One Anderson man gets life, second 30 years in meth conspiracy

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Jeffery Scott Braden

Jeffery Scott Braden

Two Anderson County men convicted of conspiring to manufacture 50 grams or more of methamphetamine were sentenced to lengthy prison terms this week, federal officials said Friday.

Officials estimate that the conspiracy resulted in the production of about 1,500 grams of methamphetamine.

Jeffrey Scott Braden, 37, of Vowell Mountain—the only one of 42 people indicted in the conspiracy to go to trial—received a mandatory life sentence on Thursday in a hearing before Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in Knoxville, officials said.

Then, on Friday, Varlan sentenced conspiracy leader Lawrence “Stoney” Scriver, 46, of Lake City, to serve 30 years, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a press release. [Read more…]

Son convicted of drug charges inside courtroom, father arrested outside

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

William Charles Braden

William Charles Braden

Betty Jo Braden

Betty Jo Braden

After his son was convicted inside a federal courthouse in Knoxville on drug charges last week, a Lake City man was arrested outside, charged with selling a controlled substance, authorities said.

The mother was also arrested on drug charges, but she was at home on Vowell Mountain Lane near Lake City when she was picked up, authorities said. [Read more…]

Lake City man convicted of conspiracy to make 50+ grams of meth

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Jeffery Scott Braden

Jeffery Scott Braden

He was the only one of 42 people indicted earlier this year to go to trial in an unprecedented meth-making conspiracy, and now the Lake City man has been found guilty, authorities said Friday.

After a three-day federal trial, a jury convicted Jeffrey Scott Braden of conspiracy to manufacture 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; the possession of equipment, chemicals, products, and materials that can be used to make it; and being a felon in possession of ammunition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Braden was tried in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Drug investigations lead to eight arrests, 17 indictments, sheriff says

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Brandy Danielle Braden

Brandy Danielle Braden

Joshua Travis Crowley

Joshua Travis Crowley

Eight people have been arrested on drug-related charges in Anderson County, including for prescription narcotics offenses and methamphetamine-related charges, after investigations by the Special Operations Unit of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, authorities said.

More arrests are expected because an Anderson County grand jury indicted a total of 17 people on 30 charges after the investigations, Sheriff Paul White said Tuesday. Authorities are also continuing to investigate related drug activity. [Read more…]

Clinton Police Department touts anti-meth successes

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

For nearly two years, Clinton Police Department officers and investigators, with the cooperation of local drug stores, have taken a proactive stance in the battle against drug activity and “would be” meth manufacturers in and around our community, and now they are sharing some of their successes with the community.

According to a release from the CPD, the continuing operation has resulted in hundreds of charges as well as numerous vehicle seizures, as in Tennessee it is against the law to use your car to facilitate the transaction of narcotics. Police have confiscated nearly 150 boxes of medicine that might have, otherwise, been used to make meth that would sell on the streets for nearly $40,000. [Read more…]

OS police allegedly find Xanax, meth, other pills during traffic stop

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The driver was sweating profusely, acting nervous, and had white powder packed into his left nostril, the Oliver Springs police officer said.

The passenger removed several handfuls of pills from her crotch and a ball of tin foil that contained an orange-colored powder that tested positive for methamphetamine, Oliver Springs Police Department Sgt. Charles Graham said. [Read more…]

WYSH: Kingston man jailed by OSPD on drug, weapons charges

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

A Kingston man was arrested on several drug and weapon charges Tuesday after a traffic stop in Oliver Springs.

An Oliver Springs Police Department officer pulled over a pickup driven by Glen Long Jr. of Kingston for a broken taillight at around 3:30 pm Tuesday at the intersection of Winter Gap and Main Street. The officer reported that Long appeared to be very nervous while speaking with him and that he could smell the odor of freshly-smoked marijuana coming from the cab of the truck. [Read more…]

Forty-two face federal charges for allegedly conspiring to make 50+ grams of meth

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Federal Meth Prosecution

Flanked by local, state, and federal law enforcement officers, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian, center, announces that 42 people, including many Anderson County residents, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine.

CLINTON—In an unprecedented case, 42 people, including many Anderson County residents, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges they conspired to make 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

U.S. Attorney William C. Killian announced the charges during a Tuesday afternoon press conference at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

Other charges listed in a 17-count indictment filed March 19 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville include possessing the equipment, chemicals, products, and materials used to make meth; maintaining homes used to manufacture the illegal stimulant, including one residence within 1,000 feet of Claxton Elementary School; and federal firearms violations. [Read more…]

Comptroller releases report on methamphetamine production in Tennessee

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Methamphetamine production continues in small laboratories in Tennessee and elsewhere around the country in spite of new laws regulating and tracking the sale of pharmacy products used to manufacture the illegal drug.

That is one of the findings of a report released today by the Comptroller’s Offices of Research and Education Accountability about attempts to control access to legal products sold at pharmacies which are later used to create methamphetamine.

[Read more…]