NEWPORT-Bonds of a quarter of a million dollars will not be reduced for defendants in a major marijuana conspiracy case, Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II ruled on Wednesday.

Eighteen defendants are named in a 55-count presentment returned by the Cocke County Grand Jury earlier this month in an alleged conspiracy to distribute marijuana which extended from January 2004 to November of this year. Sixteen of the defendants have been arrested since the presentment was returned by the grand jury.

Attorneys representing seven of the defendants who are currently being held on $250,000 bonds asked Judge Hooper this week to reduce the amount of the bonds. The defense attorneys told the court that their clients are not likely to leave the jurisdiction of the court and some of them have medical conditions which make being held in jail difficult for them.

Attorney Bill Leibrock, who represents Charles Eddie Arms Sr., 65, of 385 Gardenia Road, and Carter Moore, who represents Arms' wife, 61-year-old Mary O. Arms, asked that their bonds be reduced from the current amount of $250,000. The Armses are alleged to have been the leaders of the local marijuana conspiracy.

Assistant District Attorney General Amanda Lowe told the court that the Armses are alleged to have purchased more than 300 pounds of marijuana from Alabama and Kentucky and to have headed up the distribution of the drug in the Cocke County area.

The prosecutor said that while Mr. Arms was serving a federal prison sentence for marijuana distribution, Mrs. Arms was in charge of the local distribution operation.

But the defense attorneys argued that the Armses are local people with roots in Cocke County and they do not present a risk of flight from the jurisdiction of the court. They also told Judge Hooper that the couple have medical problems which will be difficult to treat in the Cocke County Jail.

Leibrock and Moore were joined by attorneys representing the Armses' daughter, Lisa Darlene Large, 45, of 322 Lonesome Pine Road, Bybee; April Laws, 41, of Old Highway 25E, Thorn Hill; Scottie Bailey, 39, of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; Annie B. Dreadin, 67, of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; and Susan Denise Scearce, 38, also of 138 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn, in seeking a bond reduction this week.

Judge Hooper denied the request for reduced bonds for the defendants, saying his decision was made "for the protection of the safety of this community.

"I am very aware of the problem this county has with alcohol and drugs," the judge said. "In fact, my calculations show that, on one court date we had, 85.2 percent of the cases were the result of [the abuse of] alcohol and drugs, and on another day, the figure was 100 percent."

But the judge did order local jail officials to attend to the medical needs of the defendants if they have statements from their doctors that medical treatment is needed.

Three of the defendants in the marijuana conspiracy cases have bonds of $500,000. One of them, Gather Richard Lyles, 59, of Altoona, Alabama, posted bond earlier this week. Lowe told the court that the second defendant is awaiting extradition to Tennessee and the third has not yet been arrested.

The presentment returned by the grand jury on January 14 alleges that the 18 defendants participated in a conspiracy to buy and distribute more than 300 pounds of marijuana from January 2004 to November 21, 2008.

Lyles is alleged to have sold about 105 pounds of marijuana to Charles Eddie and Mary Arms in Alabama on September 6. The other defendants are alleged to have arranged for the sale of large and small amounts of the drug, of receiving shipments of marijuana, and of breaking down the large shipments into smaller packages for sale.

District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn said agents of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force; the Cocke, Grainger, and Jefferson county sheriff's departments; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Tennessee Highway Patrol were involved in the investigation.

Defense attorneys say they have been told that there was "electronic surveillance" involved in the probe, including a wiretap on a cell phone authorized by Circuit Judge Rex Henry Ogle.

The next court date for the defendants named in the 55-count presentments is set for February 17.

Other defendants who were arraigned by Judge Hooper this week are Michael Dewayne "Bear" Wise, 48, of 127 Goins Cemetery Lane, Tazewell; Donna Roberts, 53, of 9109 Highway 25-E, Thorn Hill; Timothy Wayne Evans, 49, of 170 Highway 160, Newport; Sandra D. Evans, 42, of 170 Highway 160, Newport; David Douglas, 47, of 5850 Hiawatha Road, Morristown; Misty L. Harris, 27, of 3419 Dedra Street, Morristown; Richard Lee Church Jr.; and Tonya Perry.