Category: News

A Franklin County man is charged with TennCare fraud for selling prescription drugs paid for by TennCare, the state’s healthcare insurance program.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced the arrest of Jimmy Dale Wiggs, 59, of Estill Springs, after a joint investigation with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Wiggs is accused of obtaining the painkiller Oxycodone and later selling a portion to a confidential informant. He is charged with TennCare fraud, felony sale/delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance and felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. The prescription was obtained through Medicare Part B, which is paid for in part by TennCare.
“Oxycodone is the third most frequently prescribed controlled substance in Tennessee, according to state statistics,” Inspector General Manny Tyndall said. “We’re cracking down on people using TennCare to finance their drug habit or to put these drugs on the street for illegal sale.”
District Attorney General J. Michael Taylor is prosecuting. TennCare fraud is now a Class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to more than $3 million being repaid to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of more than $163.6 million for TennCare, according to latest figures. To date, 2,879 people have been charged with TennCare fraud.
Through the OIG Cash for Tips Program established by the Legislature, Tennesseans can get cash rewards for TennCare fraud tips that lead to convictions. Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982 toll-free from anywhere in Tennessee, or visit the website and follow the prompts that read “Report TennCare Fraud.”

The Tullahoma City election will take place on August 3. Polls will open at 8:00am and close at 7:00 pm.
The Coffee County Election Commission will meet on August 7 at 4pm in their office in Coffee County Administrative Plaza, 1329 McArthur Drive in Manchester. The purpose of the meeting is to canvass and count provisional ballots issued in the Tullahoma City Election. Voter registration forms will also be audited.

On Monday, (July 24, 2017) Ronald Gregory Freeze age 38 of Parker Road in Manchester was a passenger in a pickup truck that was stopped for a traffic violation on Panhandle Road by Coffee County Deputy Blake Simmons.
In the arrest warrant, the deputy noted that there was a shotgun lying in the bed of the truck. After getting both the driver and Freeze out of the truck Simmons also viewed a rifle in the back seat of the truck.
The warrant goes on to state that deputies were given permission to search and when they went to where Freeze was sitting, they allegedly found on the ground a small bag of a white substance believed to be crystal meth directly below Freeze’s door. The substance weighed 4.8 grams. Also allegedly found in the vehicle were 17 morphine pills, 9 Alprazolam tablets, 12 Hydrocodone tablets and 3 Suboxone strips. Also the warrant says that deputies found 3 glass pipes, two were found on Freeze’s person and one in the vehicle.
Besides the rifle and shotgun, which were loaded Coffee County deputies located a loaded .45 caliber handgun, a .357 revolver, which was also loaded, and an unloaded .22 pistol.
Freeze was charged with manufacturing/delivering/selling/possession of controlled substance, schedule II and III drug violations, unlawful drug paraphernalia uses and activities and unlawful carrying or possession of a weapon, illegal possession of a firearm.
He was released from the Coffee County Jail after posting a $29,000 bond. Freeze is set to appear in court on September 11, 2017.

The Twelfth Judicial District Drug Task Force (DTF) assisted by the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) and Marion County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit (MCSO), capped off a month’s long investigation involving the distribution of over 100,000 illegal prescription pills as well as counterfeit prescription pills that contain the dangerous drug Fentanyl.
Over the course of several months DTF Agents developed information that led to search warrants being conducted at homes located in Grundy County and Marion County. As a result of those searches, law enforcement was able to seize hundreds of illegal pills, nearly $40,000 in drug related proceeds, vehicles used to transport drugs, counter-surveillance equipment, and firearms.
As a result of the first search, Anthony Leiderman was arrested and charged with Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance for Resale and Resisting Arrest after a search at his residence located in Coalmont. Upon arrival to the residence GCSO Deputies located Leiderman attempting to flush illegal pills down a toilet in the residence. Once Deputies encountered Leiderman he continued to resist arrest in an effort to destroy the pills. Deputies were able recover some of the pills as evidence after removing the toilet and dismantling some of the plumbing in the residence.
As a result of a second search, Nona Kilgore was arrested and charged with Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance for Resale after a search of her residence located in Coalmont revealed hundreds of illegal pills. During the overall investigation, DTF Agents were able to identify Kilgore as being a key local source for many of the illegal pills being transported into Grundy County and parts of Marion County.
The investigation is ongoing and more arrests associated with this large volume of illegal pills are expected after evidence is presented to a Grand Jury.
Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum stated, between the overdoses and addictions, there is no telling how lives have been ruined by the sell and consumption of these drugs. Shrum added, “On the flip side of that, there is no way to measure the number of lives that will be positively impacted by the success of this investigation.” (Source Grundy Co. Herald)

It’s time for Tennessee’s sale tax free weekend. Freedom from sales tax on certain items runs (midnight Friday July 28, 2017) through midnight Sunday, July 30th.
There will be no sales tax on clothing, school and art supplies costing $100 or less per item; and no tax on computers that cost $1,500 or less.
For more information, check the state’s website: www.tntaxholiday.com.

On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow path in the continental United States from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina, and right through the heart of Tennessee. A partial eclipse will take place in Manchester around 1:30pm.
The total solar eclipse will be visible from the campus of MTSU for the first time over 500 years. The next total solar eclipse in Murfreesboro will be in the year 2566, so this truly is a “once-in-a-lifetime” event. Come to the campus of MTSU to experience the eclipse with astronomers, historians, philosophers and others.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy and the College of Basic and Applied Sciences are hosting a special viewing event on campus from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. for the Great Tennessee Eclipse. The event will be in the yard in front of the new Science Building.
Protective eclipse-viewing glasses will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

A former Tullahoma High School substitute teacher was scheduled to be sentenced in Coffee County Circuit Court on Wednesday afternoon. Susan Gail Stephens is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old friend of her daughter. She will now have to have to wait until next month to find out if she will receive jail time. Coffee County Circuit Court Judge Venessa Jackson will hand down the sentence in August.
The alleged incident occurred in 2006 at a residence in Tullahoma.
Stephens was age 44 at the time of the alleged incident and was charged with two counts of statutory rape and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The case has been on hold since 2006 while she appealed to the State Court of Appeals and to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
She had asked for pretrial diversion which prosecutor Jason Ponder was opposed to doing. She recently entered a plea of guilty in Circuit Court.
Stephens is represented by Nashville attorney Ed Yarbrough.

A Franklin County woman has been arrested for leaving the drug fentanyl stuck to a door facing at the Grundy County courthouse. Heather Michelle Hodge (41) of Estill Springs was charged late Monday night after being identified on courthouse surveillance video. The incident, which occurred on Friday (July 21, 2017) allegedly shows Hodge on the video sticking a fentanyl patch to a courthouse door and then removing it and attaching it to another entrance that inmates are transported through.
Grundy County sheriff’s deputies interviewed Hodge and she confessed to the incident stating she had been instructed to leave it for an inmate.
She is charged with possession of schedule II drugs, possession without a prescription, reckless endangerment and conspiracy to introduce contraband to a penal facility. She currently does not have a bond and is scheduled to appear in court on August 8, 2017.
Hodge is a licensed practical nurse.

We reported recently that an arrest has been made in the Thanksgiving (2016) burglary of Palmer Drugs in Grundy County. Sheriff Clint Shrum confirmed that 58-year-old Andy King, a Palmer resident was charged. Now we can report that a second man has been charged in that same case. 66 year-old Allen Anthony King, also of Palmer, was charged with aggravated burglary, criminal conspiracy, and vandalism relating to the incident.
King is currently incarcerated in another facility serving time on other charges.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has a new addition to its Top 10 Most Wanted list: Brandon Bradford.
38-year-old Bradford is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to face a charge of Conspiracy to Distribute and to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Heroin. Ongoing investigation efforts determined Bradford and his co-conspirators supplied a street gang with large quantities of Heroin. Bradford is a known member of the Vice Lords with ties to Chicago and the Middle Tennessee area. He has a history that includes Aggravated Robbery and Felony Possession of a Handgun and, as such, should be considered armed and dangerous.
Bradford is an African-American man who stands 5’9″ and weighs approximately 240 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about Bradford’s whereabouts should contact the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND. There is a $1,000 reward for information leading to Bradford’s arrest.