LEXINGTON, Ga. -- An Oglethorpe County government worker and five other people face charges as part of a monthlong investigation into a marijuana-growing operation.
Stephen J. "Jake" Rawls, 26, of Lexington was arrested at work Wednesday, Oglethorpe County Sheriff Mike Smith said.
Rawls, charged with distributing marijuana, is accused of selling drugs to an undercover agent posing as a buyer Aug. 11, Smith said.
Rawls has worked as a maintenance man for the county since December, repairing industrial equipment like heating and cooling systems in various government buildings, including the Oglethorpe County Jail, county Commission Chairman Billy Pittard said.
"There's no one around here who would have suspected it," he said.
Rawls, who will be dismissed, passed the mandatory drug test that all county hirees undergo, Pittard said.
"I'm as shocked as anybody is and I think it's unfortunate, but we'll get through it and I hope we'll eliminate these kinds of events in the future," he said.
Other county workers likely will take over Rawls' duties, Pittard said.
Rawls is held in an area jail, but Smith wouldn't say which one.
Five other people were arrested last week on charges related to growing hundreds of marijuana plants, Smith said.
They were arrested after authorities searched 980 Wesley Chapel Road east of Lexington on Aug. 24 and found more than 200 marijuana plants on and around the property, said Athens-Clarke police Lt. Mike Hunsinger, commander of the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force.
Three are charged with growing the pot:
► Cathy Lee Fields, 42, who faces charges of obstructing an officer, falsely reporting a crime, making false statements, and possessing, manufacturing or distributing marijuana.
► Randall Lynn Jones, 29, faces seven counts of possessing, manufacturing or distributing marijuana.
► Vernon Dewayne Fields, 44, is charged with eight counts of possessing, manufacturing or distributing marijuana, reckless driving and fleeing a police officer.
Also arrested were David Jeffrey Fields, 39, who is charged with making false statements and David Otis Fields Jr., 31, who is charged with driving without a valid license.
"It was an all-day operation, but we executed the search warrant in the morning and then we seized marijuana plants in various locations," Hunsinger said.
Good employee, passed drug test, not hurting anyone, growing a plant. He will take a real criminal's spot in jail.
when gardening is outlawed, only the outlaws will have gardens.
Yeah Taylor, a model employee who will not even be replaced but his duties given to others....Just another on the government dole who wasn't even needed. And, he did more than grow a plant for personal use or othewise as he was charged with growing marijuana and distribution of marijuana since he sold it to an undercover officer. I do understand what you are saying about non-violent offenders taking up jail space and to some extent even agree. But, drugs do not do anything positive for our society and he wasn't doing this for personal use, he was growing and selling and he deserves time in jail. To free up more space in jail we need to speed up the death penalty process to reduce it from around 20 years after conviction to around 3 years which would allow for a couple of appeals. With technology today and DNA, etc. if someone is 100% guilty of murder, no need to allow them to sit in a jail cell.
" It's Not A War On Drugs, It's A War On Freedom and Consciousness,... a reversion to the world of the..Inquisition " -- Graham Hancock
"A prohibition law strikes a blow at
the very principles upon which our
government was founded."
- Abraham Lincoln
ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS
TOBACCO ..........400, 000
ALCOHOL ..........100, 000
ALL LEGAL DRUGS ......20, 000
ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS ....15, 000
CAFFEINE ..........2, 000
ASPIRIN ..........500
MARIJUANA .......... 0
Source: United States government.
National Institute on Drug Abuse,
Bureau of Mortality Statistics
"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this."
-Albert Einstein
Law Enforcement Againt Prohibition
http://leap.cc/cms/index.php...
The Churches Support Ending Prohibition
http://www.youtube.com/watch...
Stand Up For Your Rights!
Don't Give Up The Fight!
In Tribute to the Brave Drug Warriors, Fighting For Freedom and Against Prohibition:
" Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of Hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature placed in our power. Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone: it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. "
- Patrick Henry
$113 billion is spent on marijuana every year in the U.S., and because of the federal prohibition *every* dollar of it goes straight into the hands of criminals. Far from preventing people from using marijuana, the prohibition instead creates zero legal supply amid massive and unrelenting demand.
According to the ONDCP, at least sixty percent of Mexican drug cartel money comes from selling marijuana in the U.S., they protect this revenue by brutally torturing, murdering and dismembering countless innocent people.
If we can STOP people using marijuana then we need to do so NOW, but if we can't then we need to legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match. One way or the other, we have to force the cartels out of the marijuana market and eliminate their highly lucrative marijuana incomes - no business can withstand the loss of sixty percent of its revenue!
To date, the cartels have amassed more than 100,000 "foot soldiers" and operate in 230 U.S. cities, and Arizona police are now conceding that parts of their state are under cartel control. The longer the cartels are allowed to exploit the prohibition the more powerful they're going to get and the more our own personal security will be put in jeopardy.
If alcohol is legal then pot should be legal. Alcohol's effect is worse then pot's effect IMHO.
Can we stop the buying-selling-using??
Nope we can't....so tax the stuff & get some $$$$ .
It is a drug like alcohol & the last time I checked I could buy any kind of alcohol at my favorite liquor store...what is the difference.
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