Drug Roundup: Operation Strikeout – Undercover sting targets dealers
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?For some of these people, it will be a third strike,? said Sheriff Jackie Matheny of people caught in the drug sting. ?A lot of these suspects have been known to law enforcement for a long time.?
The roundup began Thursday morning as lawmen fanned out around the county trying to catch the suspects while they were still in their beds.
?Once these things start, the phones start ringing and folks have a habit of disappearing for a while,? Matheny said of the element of surprise, noting at least some of the 14 at-large suspects are actively trying to avoid apprehension.
?The ones we did find came along without much trouble,? Matheny added, noting the arrest squads went out in teams and were backed up by the sheriff?s department helicopter which hovered most of the day around the McMinnville area in case a manhunt was needed.
Matheny said the operation, which was a joint city, county and TBI endeavor, used an undercover agent who allegedly bought drugs from the suspects while being electronically monitored by lawmen. Conviction rates for people caught in such stings are generally over 90 percent given the audio evidence and testimony by the undercover agents and back-up lawmen who are generally close by when the drug deal is struck. Members of the grand jury have already heard the evidence as they rendered the sealed indictments last week following a day-long session.
Among those arrested for sale of cocaine were Jerry Simmons, Terri Lynn Flores, Lisa Brown, Hilda Manier, Michael Perch Wright, Charles Stewart, J.J. Fisk, Jason Biles, Jamie Anderson and Larry Locke Jr. Other arrests included Adriane Martinez for sale of meth, Randy Kester for sale of meth and marijuana, Crystal Muncey for sale of marijuana and Julius Gipson for sale of prescription drugs.
The suspects will be arraigned next month before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley.