SPECIAL DELIVERY:
Son charged after marijuana arrives in mail at parents’ home.
Police said they seized 5 pounds of marijuana that had been mailed to the East Memphis home of the former head of MLGW.
Joseph Lee I V, 31 , has been charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, deliver or sell.
Lee is the son of Joseph Lee, deputy director of community centers and recreation for the city. He is the former finance director for the city of Memphis and head of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.
According to an arrest affidavit, detectives with the Organized Crime Unit received a tip about the drugs being mailed to the younger Lee’s parents’ home in the 7300 block of Cotton Plant Cove.
According to the affidavit, de- tectives staked out the home and on Tuesday seized the marijuana that was mailed from Arizona to the Lee home near Oak Forest Elementary School.
Le e’s mot her, Mona Lee, brought t he package i nto their home and then brought it back out, according to the affidavit.
Her son arrived and then moved the package, which was delivered through the U.S. Mail, to the porch and back in the home.
Mother and son then left the house in separate cars, but were pulled over by officers who thought the package was in one of the cars, police said.
The package was not in either car. Police went back to the home, where Mona Lee allowed police to search the house. Police found the package that was addressed to Ashley Johnson in the garage and a police drug dog gave a positive alert for marijuana.
When officers opened the box, they found six vacuum sealed bags of marijuana that weighed 5.95 pounds.
Mona Lee told police that she knew nothing about the drugs and that the package belonged to her son, according to the affidavit. Neither Mona Lee nor her husband, Joseph Lee, has been charged in the incident.
Lee I V waived his Miranda rights and gave police a statement about receiving marijuana and Lortab pills for the last two years, the affidavit states. He said he mails money to his suppliers or sends the money through Bank of America or Wells Fargo Bank accounts in structured amounts to go undetected. Lee was also charged with money laundering.
Police also found a total of $2,876 in his car and at his home in the 8500 block of Woodland Rose Circle. Police seized the cash, his Nissan Maxima, a money-counting machine, documents and a drug ledger from his home near Macon Road.
This marked the second time this week that police have arrested a suspect accused of receiving drugs through the mail.
Pol i ce ar r e ste d Kelv is h a Threl keld , 2 4, Monday a nd charged her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver.
Her arrest affidavit says a postal inspector delivered the package to the Breezy Point Apartments in the 2800 block of Vayu. Police found 177 grams of meth in the pocket of pants that were in the box. Threlkeld was being held on $100,000 bond.
Threlkeld and Lee are both due in court today. No bond has been set for Lee.
Arkansas House members have advanced to Gov. Asa Hutchinson a bill to allow a Ten Commandments monument to be built at the state Capitol.
Lawmakers voted 72-7 Wednesday to allow the erection of a privately funded display. The secretary of state would be charged with approving the display.
Republican Rep. Kim Hammer of Benton says t he bill will honor t he role the commandments played in the nation’s legal system.
Opponents say the display is unconstitutional and could be a state endorsement of religion.