Nashville Drug Charges Attorney Blog

A 38-year-old former jailer at the Maury County Tennessee Jail has pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. The defendant was arrested last year on charges that he brought cigarettes, drugs and other contraband into the jail. He reportedly smuggled the prohibited items into the jail and sold them to inmates for cash.

There were four others charged in connection with the case. Two were inmates in the Maury County Jail, while another was the 52-year-old mother of one of the inmates. The fourth was another woman. The defendants have not been sentenced yet, but the jailer and the 52-year-old woman both face stiff punishments of a possible fine of up to $255,000 and up to five and half years in a federal prison. There was no information provided on the cases of the others that were charged in connection with the federal contraband case.

A 37-year-old man from Signal Mountain, Tennessee, has been charged with multiple drug charges after his arrest during a traffic stop by Fort Oglethorpe, Tennessee, police. The officers had received information that someone would be trying to have a fraudulent prescription filled at a local CVS pharmacy. The pharmacist allegedly had been notified by another CVS pharmacist in a nearby town.

The police officers watched as the man picked up the prescription in the drive-thru window of the CVS and left the property. According to police reports, the officers conducted a vehicle stop. During the traffic stop, officers reported that the man allegedly appeared nervous and stated he was simply picking up the prescription for his employer. The officers placed him under arrest and then searched his car.

Though Tennessee's implied consent law concerning DUI arrests is somewhat different than that of other states, a recent decision concerning such laws will likely also affect the one in our state as well. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that police will need to obtain a search warrant before blood tests can be conducted for individuals charged with a DUI in most cases.

There have been concerns that in too many instances police officers will not be able to bring DUI charges against drivers if a warrant is required for a blood test. As alcohol will gradually disappear from the bloodstream, many county attorneys have argued that delays in obtaining the warrants will in the meantime allow drivers to sober up before the blood test is conducted.

Unless there is reasonable suspicion that our actions could place someone else in immediate danger, we have the right to expect a certain degree of privacy when pulled over by law enforcement officers. Even if we are suspected of a crime, there is still a certain protocol that the police must abide by before a search can be made.

Recently, a traffic stop involving a Tennessee driver and where the brake light was supposedly out on the car led to police allegedly discovering three ounces of marijuana in one of the passenger's pants. Police officers claim to have noticed the odor of marijuana while the traffic stop was being conducted. Police report that the passenger in the car also consented to being patted down and searched, and also apparently conducted a search of the vehicle as well. In any case, the passenger was arrested and charged with possession of Schedule VI drugs that he intended upon selling.