Published: August 06, 2009 08:28 am      

Felts School Roundup

Drug roundup centers mainly on North Corbin apartments

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

A total of five residents of the Felts School Apartments in North Corbin were arrested this week for a variety of drug offenses. Three were arrested Wednesday morning during a drug roundup by the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department, one was arrested Thursday by deputies, and another was arrested from a separate warrant by UNITE officers.

Of the 11 warrants sheriff’s deputies had to serve from the roundup, eight of them were for people who lived — or had lived — at the Felts School Apartments.

“Nine of the 11 (cases) originated at the Felts School Apartments,” said Sheriff Fred Yaden. “We went there today and arrested three at the apartments. The rest of them had moved out over into Knox County and we’ve run after to locate them and we had a state trooper help us in Knox County, as well as in Laurel County.”

One Felts School Apartment resident, Larry Case, was arrested Thursday by sheriff’s deputies after they received information that he might be leaving town later in the week. Mr. Case was charged with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance for allegedly selling Fentanyl, a pain reliever. Separate from the sheriff’s roundup, deputies said Case’s wife was later arrested by UNITE officers when a warrant for her arrest was issued later this week.

Three more residents of the same apartment complex were arrested during Wednesday morning’s roundup. There are Pamela Knuckles, 52, first-degreee trafficking (morphine) and second-degree trafficking (hydrocodone); Randall Canada, third-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (Tramadol); and Misty Gabbard, two counts of third-degree trafficking (Adipex).

Deputies are “actively searching” for six others for whom they have drug-related arrest warrants — four of those lived in the Felts School Apartments but were not located by deputies and are believed to have moved.

Also arrested Wednesday morning was Donnie Garland, 43, of Gray, on charges of first-degree trafficking (Percocet) and second-degree trafficking (hydrocodone); and Destry Grimes, of Hardin Road in London, on two counts of trafficking in methamphetamine.

The sheriff’s department was assisted in the roundup by the Kentucky State Police Post 10 of Harlan.

All the arrests stemmed from undercover buys of illegal narcotics. Yaden said officers don’t believe there was an organized drug ring at the Felts School Apartments — there just happened to be several alleged dealers selling there independently.

He also said this is not the end of the ongoing roundup.

“This is something that’s been going on for a while, and it’s just the beginning of a series of drug roundups that we’re getting ready to do,” Yaden said.