Polk arrests 22 on meth charges
The task force commander says key players in the local illegal drug trade are behind bars.
CEDARTOWN — Nine Floyd County residents were among the 22 “major players” jailed on drug charges in Polk County on Thursday following a five-month investigation by area law enforcement agencies.
“There’s no doubt that what we were able to do today will be felt by the dealers still out there on the street,” said Polk County Drug Task Force Commander Jonathan Blackmon. “We locked up some major players today.”
The investigation was headed by the task force and the office of District Attorney Jack Browning. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Cedartown Police Department and Polk County Police Department also participated.
According to Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome, the following people were arrested:
Rome: Shaunda Star Easterwood, 1228 Maple Ave.; Jada Howard, 73 Milco Place S.E.; Jennifer Jenkins, 3428 Horseleg Creek Road; Daramis Stephenson, 2167 Kingston Highway; Jeffery Wayne Turner and John Michael Turner, 4738 Black’s Bluff Road; Jennifer Ploof, 104 Apt. A, Tyler St.; and Jana Lynn Dean, no address given.
Cave Spring: Casey Kerr, 3088 Buttermilk Road.
Cedartown: Michael Hackney, Amanda Dempsey and Danny Dorris, 124 Morton Springs Road; Ulises Borja and Carmen Patricia Rodriguez, 566 Pine St.; Sara Hackney, 126 Morton Springs Road; Fernando Hernandez Pizano, 508 Lynton Drive; and Alejandro Pineda-Ortiz, Meagan Gibson and Brian Sanchez of 710 Ladue St.
Out of state: Justin Lee Cunningham, 9095 County Road 33, Centre, Alabama; Barbara Morris, 55 County Road 555, Centre; and Heather Rock of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Newsome said Hackney, Borja and Pineda-Ortiz of Cedartown were charged with trafficking meth and conspiracy to traffic meth. All others arrested were charged with conspiracy to traffic or conspiracy to possess methamphetamine.
Several pieces of property were seized, Blackmon said, as well as five vehicles, $13,000 in cash and more than one pound of methamphetamine. Several bank accounts were also frozen, he stated.
Other agencies assisting in the operation were the GBI West Metro Regional Drug Enforcement Offices; Cartersville-Bartow County Drug Task Force; Rome-Floyd Metro Task Force; FBI Northwest Georgia Criminal Enterprise Task Force; the State Board of Pardons and Paroles; the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and the U.S. Marshals.