BY PAIGE STANAGE
Fifteen people were indicted on drug charges by the Putnam County Grand Jury Monday after a joint investigation by Upper Cumberland law enforcement agencies.
Investigators recovered approximately 17 pounds of methamphetamine, the largest seizure in the Upper Cumberland, according to Putnam County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Laura Hull.
Bryant Dunaway, 13th Judicial District Attorney General, said the investigation targeted drug distributors, not addicts.
“With this investigation, we’re dealing with the sellers who are dealing large volumes of crystal methamphetamine, who are bringing the product into our communities and creating addicts,” Dunaway said. “Those are the people who we are trying to stop.”
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said the Upper Cumberland community deserves better.
“Putnam County and the Upper Cumberland do not deserve the negative impacts associated with illegal drugs,” Farris said. “If you buy, sell, or traffic illegal narcotics, we will find you and arrest you. We will seize your money, vehicles and all other associated assets.”
Some of the identities of those named in the indictments are sealed because investigators do not want to jeopardize the arrest of those individuals, Dunaway said.
However, eight had been arrested by press time Tuesday night, including Aaron Antes, 36, of Monterey; William Seth Bowman, 43, of Cookeville; Dustin Moody, 30, of Gainesboro; Macara Page, 29, of Celina; Jessica Burns, 36, of Crossville; Bryan Thomas Peek, 48, of Cookeville; Shandon Roberts, 27, of Cookeville; and Jeremy Joe Bilbrey, 43, of Baxter.
Moody, Page, Burns and Peek are each charged with conspiracy to distribute over 300 grams of methamphetamine and conspiracy to sell over 300 grams of meth; each has a $300,000 bond.
Roberts and Bilbrey are each charged with conspiracy to distribute over 300 grams of meth, conspiracy to sell over 300 grams of meth and four counts manufacturing/delivering/selling/possessing meth; both have a $300,000 bond.
Antes is charged with conspiracy to distribute over 300 grams of meth, conspiracy to sell over 300 grams of meth, manufacturing/delivering/selling/possessing, and one count of possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony; bond is $300,000.
Bowman is charged with conspiracy to distribute over 300 grams of meth, conspiracy to sell over 300 grams of meth, manufacturing/delivering/selling/possessing and employing a firearm with the intent to go armed; bond is $300,000.
Dunaway said offenders, if convicted, could each receive an 8-to-12-year sentence for that crime.
The investigation began March, 2019, when detectives from the Cookeville Police Department, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Drug Agents developed information about a meth distribution organization in the Upper Cumberland area.
As the investigation developed, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department, Crossville City Police Department, Overton County Sheriff’s Office, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Pickett County Sheriff’s Office, 13th Judicial District Attorney General Office and the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas became involved in the investigation.
