A Kentucky man was found guilty of possessing 5 kilos of cocaine after a jury trial this week in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga.

Willard Wayne Howard of Crittenden was arrested in December 2005 after he arrived in Cleveland to claim a vehicle that Drug Enforcement officers for the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office stopped on I-75 and found the cocaine hidden inside.

Willard Wayne Howard

When contacted by Howard the DEU officers said they were from a towing company and the vehicle that he asked about had been involved in a crash. Howard traveled to Cleveland to get the vehicle but when he arrived he was arrested. Inside the vehicle he was driving was over $95,000 in cash.

U.S. District Court Judge Curtis L. Collier presided over the trial. The jury found him guilty of possession of 5 kilos of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute 5 kilos of cocaine.

Officials credited the investigation and prosecution to a joint effort of the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office, Det. Carl Maskew of Project Safe Neighborhoods, Special Agent Dave Shelton of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Attorney’s Perry Piper and Scott Winnie.

A co-defendant who was transporting the cocaine pleaded guilty to his charges and is already serving a prison sentence. At the time of the bust the cocaine had an estimated street value of $500,000.

Judge Collier will sentence Howard, 54, on July 24. He has been in custody at the Bradley County jail since his arrest.

Robert Lee Poe III, a recent addition to the "Top Ten" Most Wanted lists of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested Monday morning in Meigs County. The operation to apprehend Poe was under the supervision of Meigs County Sheriff Walter Hickman. Assisting Sheriff Hickman were Bradley County Sheriff Tim Gobble, BCSO’s Criminal Investigation Division and SWAT Unit, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Robert Lee Poe, III

Poe, 31, was found at a campground alongside the Hiwassee River and state Highway 58 where he spent the last three days in an RV. Despite his violent criminal history he was taken into custody without incident. Poe is now at the Bradley County jail.

The fugitive had been sought for Civil Rights Intimidation and Violation of Community Supervision. In addition, he is on lifetime probation for Aggravated Rape. He has made repeated threats to his probation officer and has an order of protection against him.

The Bradley County Sheriff’s Office is seeking information that will help them identify the people who took part in a burglary at Preferred Pharmacy in Charleston.

A customer discovered the break-in when he stopped by just after noon on Sunday to have a prescription filled. He found the store in disarray with papers strewn all over the floor and he alerted the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrived and determined the building was unoccupied and an assortment of prescription narcotics was missing. That list will include Hydrocodone, Valium, and Xanax.

The investigation revealed the building’s alarm system had been disabled and entry was through a rear wall.

The loss including damages is almost $3,000.

The Criminal Investigations Division of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the burglary. Anyone with information about the incident should call 728-7336.

An investigation that started last year after an ATV was stolen from 214 Johnson School Road has concluded with the arrest of two suspects.  

Nicholas Scott Cook

Nicholas Scott Cook, 20, and David Joe Duggan, 46, both of Buchanan Road, were arrested last week after a Bradley County Grand Jury handed down indictments in the case. They are each charged with Criminal Conspiracy, Theft over $1,000, Identity Theft and Alteration of Vehicle Identification Numbers.

David Joe Duggan

Investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office revealed identifying numbers on the Yamaha ATV were changed before it was taken to a flea market in Dalton Georgia where it was sold. The new owner took the vehicle to Texas and had plans to cross the Mexican border however the vehicle was correctly identified before it left the country. It has since been returned to the original owner.     

The 2007 Yahama Grizzly was valued at $9,000.