Jones County’s Grand Jury met again last week and brought true bills of indictment for all counts in nine of the 10 cases presented.
Of the cases heard by jurors Aug. 5, only four did not involve drugs. The cases not about drugs included firearm charges, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement and assorted traffic charges.
Nicholas Terrell Dillard was indicted on charges of trafficking methamphetamine and possession of cocaine.
Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Barron Hall said Dillard, 39, was arrested July 17 at a retail center just after he entered Jones County. He was wanted for an outstanding warrant in Bibb County and was observed by officers when he entered the area of Highway 49 and Joycliff Road.
Hall said, after Dillard was identified, they watched him pull into the shopping area. When he parked, he was taken into custody without incident.
Several officers were involved in the arrest. Hall said Sgt. Kasey Carr and his K9 partner did an open-air sniff of Dillard’s vehicle. The vehicle was searched after the K9 alerted, and two ounces of methamphetamine were found inside.
One ounce of meth equals 28 grams, which is the amount required for a trafficking charge.
Hall said, when Dillard was asked to exit his vehicle, he put one hand flat on the car’s roof and his other hand was closed. When instructed to open that hand, a quantity of cocaine fell to the ground.
Dillard currently remains in the Jones County jail without bond.
The 10th case the grand jurors heard included 16 defendants. Twelve of the 16 defendants received true bills of indictments from grand jury members with the four remaining not charged.
The charges for those 12 defendants include violation of the Georgia Controlled Substance Act, furnishing vapor products to minors, keeping a gambling place and possession of Schedule I controlled substance with intent to distribute.
That case was the result of a six-month investigation that started in July of 2023 and led to warrants being served on 12 Jones County businesses for the sale of illegal drugs, involving CBD products over the legal limit for THC.
The Jones County businesses were part of 34 total businesses that were served with warrants in three Middle Georgia counties. The joint operation included the Putnam, Jasper and Jones counties.
The catalysts for the operation, according to a story about the investigation in The Jones County News, were complaints from parents and family members and the number of students caught vaping. Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Crystal Murphy said there had been numerous EMS calls in Jones County involving students and CDB gummies.
Murphy said the investigation began with undercover operatives going into the stores and purchasing products suspected of being over the limit for THC. The legal age to buy the products is 21, but she said in some cases the underage purchaser was carded but the sale went forward anyway.
The investigator explained that all the CBD product labels claimed to be under the .3 Delta 9 THC limit. The products were sent to a lab for testing, and most were over the limit. She said some were as high as 7 – 8 percent.
Murphy said most of the products over the limit were from other states, with many from California, but the legal limits are enforced in Georgia. The inventory of the purchasing and testing of the products was organized by Murphy and filled two large threering binders.
She said all the suspected over the limit products were seized when the warrants were executed as well as all the cash on the premises. The gaming machines in the businesses involved were shut down by the Lottery Commission.
A few of those arrested in the investigation had already resolved their cases before last week’s grand jury.
A complete list of the Aug. 5 indictments can be found on the open records page of this week’s edition.
