GREENSBORO ó A federal grand jury has accused 17 people, most of them from Denton and Thomasville, of manufacturing and distributing methamphetamines.
A lengthy investigation and the resulting charges are “a serious attempt to address a growing problem with the manufacture of methamphetamine in the Davidson County area,” according to a press release issued Tuesday by the office of Anna Mills Wagoner, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina.
The grand jury indictments charge the 17 defendants with possession of pseudoephedrine “knowing it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine” and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute the drug commonly known as “meth.”
State officials have campaigned for years to make pseudoephedrine, the ingredient common in many cold medicines, less readily available for sale to people who might try to cook the material in a homemade “meth lab.”
Likewise, state officials have warned of the dangers of such clandestine labs, which mix and cook dangerous chemicals, sometimes triggering explosions.
Denton residents indicted are: Benny Wayne Franklin, 31; Billy Ray Franklin, 33; Tracy Glen Strickland, 39; Timothy Daniel Strickland, 31; Tamara Hobbs Strickland, 35; Lisa Todd Kinley, 46; and Christopher Lee Woodlief, 23.
Thomasville residents indicted are: Timothy Scott Wagner, 43, also known as “Coolie;” Laura Lynn Blair, 39; Javetta Morrow Robinette, 43, also known as “Susie;” Ashley Nichole Morrow, 23; Scotty Lynn Pullum, 25; and Crystal Gale Hodges, 25.
Others indicted are: Benjamin Ray Steffey, 27, Asheville; Craig Leroy Robbins, 50, Trinity; Larry Craig Stillwell, 37, no hometown given; and Tony Wayne Hughes, 24, of Lexington.
“The indictment results from a lengthy investigation involving the joint efforts of several law enforcement agencies, including Sheriff David S. Grice and the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the United States Marshal’s Service,” according to Wagoner’s press release.
Besides naming the 17 people, the press release provided no details of the investigation or the operation of the alleged drug ring. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Klauer, Wagoner’s press information officer, did not return a phone call Tuesday afternoon.
The grand jury issued the indictments Dec. 17.