Three Versailles residents face drug charges following multi-agency home search

One Versailles man also faces two unlawful use of weapon charges

Charles "Billy" Crowe
Charles "Billy" Crowe

Two men and one woman face drug possession charges after methamphetamine was allegedly found in a Versailles home.

On Aug. 24, Morgan County Sheriff's Office Detectives Chuck Black and Dave Salzman applied for a search warrant at Charles "Billy" Crowe's residence, located on Route T in Versailles. The warrant was to search for methamphetamine in the residence, property, vehicles and outbuildings, according to a Black's probable cause statement.

The detectives, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, (ATF) and Camden County Sheriff's Office explosives detection K-9, executed the search the same day. Inside the residence, Black and Salzman located Leslie N. Lemens, 37, who is the girlfriend of 44-year-old Crowe.

Jack E. Medley Jr., 37, Versailles, was also at the apartment the time of the search, according to the probable cause statement. Black said Medley had warrants for his arrest through the probation and parole office. As a field test later confirmed, a bag of 3 grams of methamphetamine and a glass methamphetamine pipe was allegedly located near Medley at the time.

photo

Collections manager Carolyn Reno demonstrates the proper way to wash a piece of antiquated clothing by sewing it into two pieces of plastic screen before putting it into water Wednesday during “Precious Threads: Preserving Heirloom Textiles” at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale.

Black said several additional bags filled with methamphetamine in kitchen cabinets and master bedroom, as well as a glass meth smoking pipe in a backpack, which also had mail in it addressed to Lemens. Recovered mail addressed to Charles "Billy Crowe" was also discovered, along with empty plastic bags in the dresser drawer of Crowe's master bedroom. Black said from his training and experience having several bags with meth inside is consistent with selling illegal drugs.

The detectives and assisting agencies also found two rifles in one of the bedrooms. Stolen property and explosives were also recovered, according to Morgan County Sheriff Jim Petty. The Missouri State Highway Patrol Bomb Disposal Unit was contacted to dispose the explosives, which were then destroyed by detonation near the scene, Petty said.

Black said Salzman made contact with Medley Aug. 25 at the Morgan County Sheriff's Office where Medley allegedly admitted smoking meth Aug. 24 with Lemens. Medley said Lemens and Crowe lived at the shop apartment.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN 2-17-10 Brett Crisel, 26, is escorted from the Little Rock police station after being questioned as the driver who fled the scene of an accident critically injuring a legislators wife.

Crowe was later arrested and charged with a class C felony possession of a controlled substance and two class D felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon. The unlawful use of a weapon charges were given because Crowe allegedly was in possession of a firearm and allegedly knowingly in possession of methamphetamine, according to the complaint filed in Crowe's case Wednesday. Crowe's bond was set at $30,000 cash or surety.

Lemens and Medley were each charged with a class C felony of possession of a controlled substance. Medley also faced a probation and parole violation and was held without bond. Lemens' bond was set at $50,000 cash or surety.

The punishment for a class C felony possession of a controlled substance charge is no less than two years and no more than seven years imprisonment, or under special terms no more than one year in jail, a fine not to exceed $5,000 or a both imprisonment and a fine.

The punishment for a class D felony is imprisonment for no less than two years and no more than four years, or special terms no more than one year in jail, a fine not to exceed $5,000 or a both imprisonment and a fine.

Petty said the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are to follow.