Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force Archives

Affidavit: Woman admits stealing from 83-year-old who was allegedly killed

Posted at 1:42 pm September 5, 2018
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Christy Viola Comer

The Rocky Top woman charged with homicide last week admitted stealing from an 83-year-old man who was believed to have been strangled at his home on Friday, according to Anderson County court records.

The body of J.C. Copeland was found outside of his home in the 600 block of Jacksboro Avenue in Rocky Top on Friday morning, authorities said last week.

Agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation started investigating at the request of Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark and with help from the Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force.

“During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information leading to Comer as an individual responsible for Copeland’s death,” the TBI said in a press release over the weekend.

An affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton said Christy Viola Comer, 37, who has been charged with criminal homicide, conspired to participate in the robbery and killing of Copeland. Copeland is believed to have been strangled to death, the affidavit said. [Read more…]

Byrne named director of Crime Task Force

Posted at 1:04 pm September 3, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Simon Byrne

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force has named a new director after the former director was elected Anderson County sheriff.

Russell Barker had previously been the director, but he was elected sheriff on August 2.

On Tuesday, Anderson County’s law enforcement leaders, acting as the Board of Directors of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, named Simon Byrne as director, District Attorney General Dave Clark said. [Read more…]

Rocky Top woman charged with homicide in death of 83-year-old

Posted at 12:18 am September 2, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Christy Viola Comer

Note: This story was updated at 1:20 p.m. September 3.

A Rocky Top woman has been arrested and charged with homicide in the death of an 83-year-old man, state authorities said.

Christy Viola Comer, 37, was arrested by special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, with help from several local law enforcement agencies, a TBI press release said.

On Friday morning, authorities found the body of J.C. Copeland outside of his home in the 600 block of Jacksboro Avenue in Rocky Top. TBI agents started investigating at the request of Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark and with help from the Rocky Top Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force. [Read more…]

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

Posted at 11:25 am July 29, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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

Posted at 5:21 pm July 23, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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

Posted at 1:01 pm July 23, 2018
By John Huotari 1 Comment

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…]

McGuire Books closing, while Packard’s store re-opened

Posted at 6:59 pm June 2, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

McGuire Books in Oak Ridge is closing. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the store, which also sells CDs, DVDs, games, and electronics, on Thursday, May 24, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

McGuire Books in Oak Ridge is closing, while Packard’s Games and Movies in Clinton has re-opened and Packard’s in Kingston is expected to re-open.

The McGuire Books store in Oak Ridge, which also sells compact discs, digital video discs, games, and electronics, said it was closing after it was searched and some items were seized by law enforcement starting at about noon Thursday, May 24. The store was open the next day, Friday of last week, with a skeleton crew of staff members, although there were, at that time, shelves that were conspicuously empty at the front of the store. Law enforcement officers were reported to have taken DVDs, games, and some other items.

The search last week, which continued into Thursday night and involved several large moving trucks, was led by the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force of Anderson County. The CTF was helped by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, the Eighth Judicial District Drug Task Force, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and Clinton Police Department. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark and Assistant District Attorney General Ryan Spitzer were also at the store.

Officers were observed removing boxes of items from McGuire Books and packing them into the moving trucks last week. Crime scene tape blocked entry to the store, and a Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force crime scene truck was parked out front. The purpose of the search has not been announced. [Read more…]

Law enforcement search at McGuire could continue through Thursday night

Posted at 12:02 am May 25, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The law enforcement search at McGuire—a store that sells used books, compact discs, digital video discs, and electronics—is expected to last hours and continue through the night Thursday, May 24, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 9:45 a.m. May 25.

The law enforcement search at McGuire—a store that sells used books, compact discs, digital video discs, and electronics—is expected to last hours and continue through the night (Thursday night).

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force of Anderson County executed search warrants at McGuire Used Books, CDs, DVDs, Games, and More starting at about noon Thursday. There were reported to be about a dozen employees in the store at the time the search began.

Authorities declined to say why they were searching the store on Thursday afternoon. But they had a stack of moving boxes ready to be folded and numerous boxes folded and ready to be used, and there were several moving trucks parked near the store, including one right in front of it.

Crime scene tape blocked entry to the store, and a Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force crime scene truck was parked out front.

At about 10 p.m. Thursday, it appeared that boxes with items inside were occasionally being brought out of the store and loaded into the moving truck parked in front of McGuire. [Read more…]

Charged with attempted murder, woman allegedly conspired to lock, erase cell phone

Posted at 2:05 pm May 24, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kali Annabelle Bailey

The Heiskell woman who was charged with attempted murder after she allegedly shot into an occupied vehicle in Oak Ridge on May 6 is now accused of conspiring with her grandmother and one of the victims to lock or erase her cell phone, which is being held in evidence at the Oak Ridge Police Department.

After the shooting, Kali Annabelle Bailey, 20, was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of reckless endangerment.

New charges related to the alleged attempt to lock or erase her cell phone were filed Monday. The charges are criminal conspiracy to tamper with evidence, attempted tampering with evidence, and solicitation of tampering with evidence. Like the original charges, they are all felony charges.

Bailey’s bond on the original charges had been set at $250,000. Bond on the new charges is $25,000.

Bailey’s alleged co-conspirators, Becky A. Bell of Heiskell and Seth M. Davis of Oak Ridge, have also been charged. Bell is Bailey’s grandmother, and Davis is a victim of the alleged shooting, according to court records. [Read more…]

Anderson County residents among 44 indicted in meth distribution conspiracy

Posted at 8:28 pm March 26, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A group of Anderson County residents was part of an alleged methamphetamine distribution ring that involved 44 people and a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in East Tennessee and elsewhere, federal officials said Monday.

A 30-count indictment was returned against the 44 people by a federal grand jury in Greeneville in East Tennessee on January 9. Among those indicted were nine residents of Clinton, Oliver Springs, Powell, and Rocky Top, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Tennessee on Monday. There were also four Knoxville residents indicted and a dozen in Bristol and Kingsport in upper East Tennessee, among other defendants in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County were among the agencies that helped with the investigation, the press release said.

Here are the people that were indicted in the alleged methamphetamine distribution conspiracy: [Read more…]

Warrants: Police find drug paraphernalia, suspected meth in Vermont Ave search

Posted at 2:51 pm February 28, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Joel Donovan Packard

Police found suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia during a search of a home on Vermont Avenue early Friday morning, authorities said.

Two people were arrested on drug charges after the search, and two were arrested on outstanding warrants.

Warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton said a search of the home at 306 Vermont Avenue found suspected methamphetamine, a blister pack containing four suspected pseudoephedrines, three suspected clonazepam, a snort straw, spoons with residue, black digital scales with residue, pipes, clear plastic baggies with residue, and an unknown white residue.

The two people arrested on drug violations, Joel Donovan Packard, 23, and Tiffany Lea Packard, 42, live at the Vermont Avenue home. Both remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Tuesday afternoon.

Both Packards have been charged with manufacturing, delivering, or selling Schedule II drugs; manufacturing, delivering, or selling Schedule IV drugs; maintaining a dwelling for manufacturing, selling, or delivering narcotics; and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The search was conducted at about 6:45 a.m. Friday, February 24, by the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County and the Oak Ridge Police Department.

Authorities have previously said that two other people, Jackson McGhee, 41, and James Brown, 27, were arrested after the Friday morning search on outstanding warrants in a related case. [Read more…]

Two arrested on drug charges, two on outstanding warrants after Vermont Ave search

Posted at 4:20 pm February 24, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Charges are pending after a search warrant was served as part of an investigation into illegal drug activity on Vermont Avenue on Friday morning, Feb. 24, 2017, authorities said. The search warrant was served by members of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force and the Oak Ridge Police Department SWAT and patrol staff. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Two people were arrested on drug charges and two were arrested on outstanding warrants after a search of a Vermont Avenue home on Friday morning, authorities said.

The search of the home at 306 Vermont Avenue, across from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in central Oak Ridge, came after an investigation by the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force.

The Oak Ridge Police Department SWAT team entered the house early Friday morning with help from ORPD patrol officers.

Once the house was secure, agents from the Crime Task Force searched the home, detained several people, and conducted interviews as part of their investigation, a press release said. [Read more…]