NEWPORT-After attorneys for three of the defendants who are still in jail in connection with a major marijuana conspiracy case pleaded for a reduction in bond on behalf of their clients on Friday, Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II agreed to reduce the bond for just one of the defendants.
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.
Bond for 69-year-old Annie B. Dreadin, of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn, was dropped from $250,000 to $100,000 after a series of hearings before Judge Hooper on Friday. But there are some strict conditions of Dreadin's reduced bond.
As conditions of the $100,000 bond, Dreadin is required to live with her son, who is a graduate engineering student at the University of Tennessee, in Knox County. And she may not leave the residence except in the case of a medical or family emergency, a measure aimed at keeping her from returning to her Grainger County home, which is alleged to have been the scene of more than a few of the marijuana transactions alleged in the conspiracy case.
"Your lack of a [criminal] record is a distinguishing factor in your case," Judge Hooper told Dreadin. "But the day may come when some of what I've heard here today may come back to haunt you."
The judge was referring to a piece of the state's evidence cited by Assistant District Attorney General Amanda Lowe in opposing any reduction of bond for Dreadin. That came in response to defense attorney Paul Whetstone's statement that Dreadin "has lived 69 years without a criminal record of any kind."
"The state's proof is that she brags about how long she'd been dealing marijuana and had not been caught. And that's on tape," prosecutor Lowe said. "So there's one face that she's presenting here and another that she presents in the drug community."
Attorney Whetstone emphasized to the court that his client, unlike most of the defendants who are accused in the marijuana conspiracy case, "has no state, federal, or municipal [criminal] record of any kind." He also told the court that Dreadin suffers numerous medical conditions, including high blood pressure, sleep apnea, diabetes, and asthma.
But Judge Hooper also took note that Dreadin was among many of the women inmates in the Cocke County Jail who tested positive for drug use in a recent court-ordered drug screen. Dreadin tested positive for marijuana, but she denied on Friday that she had used marijuana in the jail.
"I don't smoke marijuana; I didn't smoke marijuana," Dreadin told the court under oath. "I have no idea why I would come up positive for marijuana."
Judge Hooper agreed with Whetstone that Dreadin's lack of a criminal record sets her apart from most of the other defendants in the case. On the other hand, Judge Hooper refused to lower a $100,000 bond for Dreadin's son, Scottie Bailey, 39, also of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn, who is also accused in the marijuana conspiracy case and was described in court on Friday as "a clear danger to the community."
Defense attorney Tom Testerman told the court that Bailey does not present a risk of flight from the jurisdiction of the court, has roots in the East Tennessee community, and needs to be out of jail in order to properly confer with his attorney and review the lengthy compact disc of undercover tape recordings made by officers in the case.
But both prosecutor Lowe and Judge Hooper pointed to Bailey's criminal record, which includes convictions for possession and sale of both cocaine and methamphetamine, possession of a Schedule II drug in a school parking lot in Hamblen County, and possession of Schedule II drugs in both Jefferson and Hamblen counties.
In denying Bailey's request for a bond reduction, Judge Hooper referred to the defendant's record as a reflection of "just continuing violations of the law. Your record is such that you are a danger to be out. This is one of the worst records I've ever seen."
The final defendant who requested a bond reduction on Friday was 45-year-old Lisa Darlene Large, who is in jail under a $250,000 bond. Large, of 322 Lonesome Pine Road, Bybee, is suffering from cancer, which Judge Hooper was told is currently in remission, and her health was the primary reason defense attorney Boyd Venable cited in requesting a bond reduction.
Venable said his client is required to make frequent trips to cancer specialists in Knoxville for specialized tests and, if she remains in jail, the county will be responsible for the cost.
"Plus, a lot of cancer [recovery] is psychological, and if she is in jail, that could be a problem," Venable told the court. "And if we do not allow her a bond that she can afford, we're punishing her."
But prosecutor Lowe cited Large's role in the alleged marijuana conspiracy and her previous criminal record, including a federal drug conviction.
"The state is not as concerned with the burden she presents to the state. The state is more concerned with the burden she presents to the community," Lowe said. "The main concern is the risk she poses to the community."
All but four of the defendants who are currently under arrest in connection with the marijuana conspiracy have posted bonds ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. The defendant who was most recently arrested, Kentucky resident Douglas Durham, who is charged with conspiracy to sell and deliver more than 300 pounds of marijuana, was working to make arrangements to post bond on Friday.
According to court records, Charles Eddie Arms Sr., 65, of 385 Gardenia Road, and his wife, 61-year-old Mary O. Arms, are alleged to have been the leaders of the local marijuana conspiracy.
Prosecutors allege that the Armses purchased more than 300 pounds of marijuana from Alabama and Kentucky and headed up the distribution of the drug in the Cocke County area.
The state alleges that while Mr. Arms was serving a federal prison sentence for marijuana distribution, Mrs. Arms was in charge of the local distribution operation.
The Armses and Gather Richard Lyles, 59, of Altoona, Alabama, have been released after posting $500,000 bonds.
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.
Other defendants in the conspiracy case are the Armses' daughter, April Laws, 41, of Old Highway 25E, Thorn Hill; Dreadin's daughter, Susan Denise Scearce, 38, of 138 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; 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.
Before holding the bond reduction hearing on Friday, Judge Hooper accepted a guilty plea from a 41-year-old Cocke County man in an unrelated drug case.
Timothy Scott Gibson, of 1187 Raines Road, pled guilty to possession with intent to sell more than a half gram of cocaine, possession with intent to sell more than a half ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and public intoxication.
He was sentenced to eight years in the Community Corrections Program and fined a total of $4,200 in the negotiated plea agreement.
Prosecutor Lowe told the court that Newport Police Officer Ricky Parton was on patrol on West Broadway last November 28 when he saw what appeared to be "a drug deal" taking place. Parton reportedly saw Gibson walk up to another man and take what appeared to be a package of cocaine from his pocket.
In his search of the defendant, Officer Parton found 15 bags containing a total of 14.3 grams of cocaine, more than $1,000 in cash, and about seven tenths of an ounce of marijuana, along with a package of cigarette rolling papers, Lowe told the court.