The operation began in the early morning hours Friday
Smokey Barn News November 1, 2013
OPERATION FALL HARVEST LEADS TO MANY ARRESTS
Multiple individuals were arrested by a joint task force early Friday morning as part of an illegal prescription drug roundup. The roundup, named Operation Fall Harvest, was part of a multi-agency cooperative effort from law enforcement to combat the growing 
prescription drug problem in our county. The agencies involved in the operation were the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Inspector General , Springfield Police Department, Greenbrier Police Department, and Cross Plains Police Department.
The operation began in the early morning hours Friday and lasted for approximately 5 hours as teams of law enforcement officers apprehended subjects at various locations across the county. A total of 24 people were arrested with a total of 52 warrants served. Most of the targets of the operation were recently indicted on prescription drug charges.
“It is important to the safety and security of Robertson County and its citizens that these people be located, arrested, and held to answer for their charges,” said Sheriff Bill Holt. “We are continuing our fight against the illegal prescription drug problems on the streets in our community. This operation was a success, and the message was sent to a lot of people today that the law enforcement community is united against the illegal use and sale of prescription drugs.”
The Sheriff’s department has provided the following list of the individuals arrested. The suspects are still being processed which will likely take through the day. It takes roughly 30 minutes to process an inmate in to the Robertson County Jail facility. Because of that backlog there may be small errors in one or two of the names.
Leo Rose, Jackie Marlow, Mary Rose, James Rose, Matthew Oliver, Lyndi Holcombe, Michael Schklar, William Evans, Lucy Copeland, Levi Pope, Joycelyn Doss, Joyce Doss, Jeffery Farmer, Mario Cogshell, Crystal Keymon, Krochina Jamison, Stephanie Wilson, Takiera Young, Jakiara Wilson, Mandrekus Young, James Bales, Lavoy Sales, Eugene Harris, Terry Holman
Jim Ball reporting
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Too bad this is only a small piece of the multi-million dollar drug enterprise known as Springfield Tennessee. They are like cockroaches when you think you got them killed another 500 come crawling out of the cracks. 30 are off the streets till they make bond if they are not already on probation, with hundreds more ready to fill the proverbial scrip. With 60-70k in the county I would guess there are 5,000 or better crooks, gangster, users and dealers. If you actually think this will make any difference in the problems in Springfield your wrong. This is not going to stop the killings. These are all low level dope dealers (I.e. lavoy “big worm” sales) and maybe a 2-3 are real dangers to society/gang members. A couple of them are Adams-Cedar Hill trash whose families have been dealing for generations. This is not going to stop the flow of drugs into the drug den known as adams-cedar hill. If they can take a 400-500 of them off the streets then I think maybe an impact could be made.
You are so right about the doctors. Myself, sister and brother-in-law are pharmacists for a chain pharmacy. The DEA is trying but like you said, why aren’t the doctors held accountable??? They aren’t thanks to the Medical Board. They just keep letting them write those prescriptions. While the burden is on the pharmacist to check all the data bases, get drivers license and question them Why don’t they just say No!!!!!
Sadly, much of this operation will have been done in vein. Our Law Enforcement Officers can work as diligently as they so desire, but the courts often fail us. The punishments are usually far too lenient for many of the offenders. Our jails are at or near maximum capacity at all times, so this also creates certain limitations.
If Law Enforcement truly wants to make a dent in this activity, they must cut the head off of the snake. The head of this snake is the doctors who prescribe / over-prescribe these medications to those who don’t truly need them. We have doctors prescribing massive amounts of medications once used for cancer patients who are on their death bed, to those who suffer from little more than sprained pinky toe. Until major efforts are taken towards these doctors, operations like these are all but an expensive burden on the taxpayers of Robertson County.
Many of these relatively small time pill peddlers don’t have much money or property to confiscate, so even if Robertson County or the State of Tennessee takes what little they do have, the taxpayers are left to foot the bill. I don’t have actual figures, but I bet the costs associated with such an investigation, the round-up process, the time in the court system, the court-appointed legal representation, the cost of housing in the jail, etc., are astonishing. With this method, we as taxpayers see little to no return on our investment.
They need to go after the doctors. They have the money, the property, and the resources to pay for their own legal defense. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword for Law Enforcement Officers and the court systems. Unlike the low level pushers they often pursue, the wealthy doctors can afford to put up a fight with competent defense attorneys. But if they build a strong enough case against these doctors, no level of defense should prevent a conviction, confiscation of assets, ultimately lessening the financial burden on the taxpayers. On top of that, they will be cutting off part of the supply chain.
Of course, all of this is assuming the War on Drugs isn’t all but a complete waste of time. That’s a whole other debate.
To the Law Enforcement Officers with their boots on the ground and in harms way, your efforts and courage are greatly appreciated. Be safe out there.