Ed Baldwin

Staff Writer

“This is an ongoing effort to combat drugs in the county.”

With those words Claiborne County Sheriff David Ray opened a briefing for officers conducting a major drug roundup last week.

Claiborne County deputies joined with officers from Tazewell, New Tazewell, and the Eighth Judicial Drug Task Force on Tuesday, Dec 4 in an effort to serve 43 sealed indictments on suspected drug dealers. Those indictments included over 100 separate criminal charges. Information leading to the indictments was gathered from local citizens and from Hancock, Campbell, and Grainger counties.

Lance Saylor from the state office of the Inspector General was also on hand with an interest in TennCare fraud often connected with illegal drug sales.

Four teams of 4-6 officers traversed the county seeking to arrest those named on the indictments. By Tuesday evening, about 20 arrests had been made. Each individual arrested faced a preset bond of between $5,000 and $50,000.

As of noon on Monday, Dec. 10, 27 suspects had been apprehended. They are:

• Arville Anderson, 35, Bond $10,000

• Helena Anderson, Bond $10,000

• Christopher D. Atkins, 29, Harrogate, Bond $5,000

• Alvin Bolden, 37, Bond $25,000

• Alvin Bolden Jr., Bond $2,500

• Michelle Bolden, 37, Bond $25,000

• Eric J. Carpenter, 21, Bond $25,000

• Sheila R. Cupp, Bond $5,000

• Joseph Durman, Bond $20,000

• Matthew Farley, 18, Sneedville, Bond $10,000

• Jose A. Gonzales, Bond $20,000

• Earl B. Hendrickson, 31, Bond $50,000

• Jason D. Hipshire, Bond $10,000

• Dustin M. Hoskins, 23, Bond $50,000

• Christina M. Johnson, 28, New Tazewell, Bond $20,000

• Jared R. Johnson, 20, Tazewell, Bond $5,000

• Kathryn A. Loft, 23, Bond $10,000

• Joseph A. McClintock, Bond $15,000

• Curtis D. Minton, Bond $10,000

• Clarence E Noe, 38, Russellville, Bond $20,000

• Matthew D. Painter, 23, Bond $15,000

• John H. Rasnic, Jr, Bond $10,000

• Clinton W. Russell, 32, New Tazewell, Bond $10,000

• Sara A. Sockwell, Bond $10,000

• Jerry W. Surber, Bond $15,000

• Jason Tate, Bond $25,000

• Kurt A. Warren, Bond $20,000

Law enforcement officers continue to seek the other individuals named on the target list.

Ed Baldwin is a staff writer for the Claiborne Progress. He can be reached via e-mail at ebaldwin@claiborneprogress.net .