Spencer Man Indicted for Albin Buechel murder in Pleasant Hill

COOKEVILLE –A joint investigation by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in indictments for a Spencer man in connection to a January homicide in Sparta.

Billy Joe Wynnyn

At the request of 13th District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway, TBI Agents began investigating the January 20th murder of Albin Buechel in his home in the 400 block of Arthur Seagraves Road. During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information leading to Billy Joe Wannyn (DOB 5-1-70) as the individual responsible for the crime.

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Today, the Cumberland County Grand Jury returned indictments, charging Wannyn with one count of First Degree Murder, one count of Felony Murder, and one count of Aggravated Robbery. Today, authorities served him with the charges at the Cumberland County Jail, where – at the time of this release – he remained incarcerated on unrelated charges.

Thirteenth Judicial District DA Dunaway and Others Joins Opioid Lawsuit against Pharma Companies.

14 district attorneys general representing 47 counties now involved in fight against fraudulent marketing, criminal pill mills

Press Release:
CROSSVILLE, Tenn. — The district attorneys general of Tennessee’s Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-Second and Thirty-First Judicial Districts have jointly filed a lawsuit against prescription opioid producer Purdue Pharma L.P. and its related companies, along with Mallinckrodt LLC, Endo Health Solutions, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.

Filed Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in Cumberland County Circuit Court in Crossville, Tennessee, the lawsuit also includes additional defendants Montclair Health & Wellness LLC (doing business as Special Associates); North Alabama Pain Services, LLC; Mark Murphy, medical director of both pain clinics; David Florence, primary physician at several additional regional pain clinics; and Nathan Paul Haskins, a convicted drug dealer.

According to ProPublica, Murphy was the nation’s top prescriber of oxycodone hydrochloride and OxyContin® to Medicare Part D patients in 2015.

“Tennessee ranks second in the nation for per-capita opioid prescriptions,” says Bryant C. Dunaway, district attorney general for Tennessee’s Thirteenth Judicial District. “Tennessee doctors wrote more than 7.8 million opioid prescriptions in 2015. That’s more prescriptions than Tennessee has residents — men, women, and children combined.

“We have experienced a massive influx of opioids into the 19 counties named in this suit. Millions of pills have been overprescribed and diverted into vulnerable populations, resulting in a robust illegal trade, skyrocketing overdose rates, and a growing financial burden on our police, schools, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and taxpayers. The defendants named chose to participate in this process for personal gain, and we intend to hold them accountable.”

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants knowingly participated in the illegal opioid market through the following actions:

• The producer defendants directed their opioids to the 19 Tennessee counties of the state’s Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-Second and Thirty-First Judicial Districts, while the criminal defendants participated in the illegal opioid drug market throughout the same judicial districts and surrounding areas;
• The drug producers embarked on a fraudulent campaign to convince physicians that opioids carried a low risk of addiction and were therefore appropriate for non-acute problems such as chronic pain;
• The drug producers’ misrepresentations regarding the addictive nature of opioids, as well as the aggressive marketing of their collective fraudulent message, contributed to a market for illegally prescribed opioids;
• The criminal defendants’ actions of overprescribing opioids generated a significant regional influx of pills, resulting in a robust illegal drug trade;
• The drug producers’ marketing campaign gave rise to a market for street heroin for addicts who can no longer obtain prescription opioids or afford diverted opioids; and
• All defendants were aware of the extraordinary volume of prescriptions being written and took no steps to stop illegal prescriptions or diversions.

Unintentional overdose deaths now account for more early deaths in Tennessee than automobile accidents, suicides or homicides, and the vast majority of the state’s overdose deaths involve opioids — nearly 72 percent, as recorded in 2015. Among the 19 counties named, more than 1 million opioid prescriptions were filled in 2016. The same region recorded 550 opioid-related overdose deaths from 2012 to 2016.

“The defendants named in this complaint have either knowingly participated in the illegal market for opioids by purposely misleading the medical community and general public through fraudulent marketing campaigns, or they have overprescribed or diverted pills, or failed to stop the diversion of pills,” says J. Gerard Stranch, managing partner of Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings (BS&J), PLLC, the Nashville-based law firm that filed the lawsuit. “The pill mills and dealers involved have written tens of thousands of opioid prescriptions and funneled millions of pills into our communities. The resulting illegal opioid trade has enriched the defendants at the expense of the citizens of Tennessee while causing immense suffering for those who become addicted.”

The lawsuit demands judgment against the defendants for damages resulting from breaches of statutory and common law, seeks punitive damages against the defendants for their role in flooding Tennessee with illegal opioids, seeks to award restitution to the plaintiffs, and requests an injunction to stop the flood of opioids to the region.

The suit is the third such complaint filed in Tennessee in recent months. The first was filed in June 2017 in Sullivan County Circuit Court in Kingsport, and the second was filed in September 2017 in Campbell County Circuit Court in Jacksboro. Collectively, the three complaints represent 14 district attorneys general and 47 counties in Tennessee.

The filed complaint is available for download at http://tnbabydoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Suit3-Stamped-Complaint.pdf.

Cumberland Co man among those arrested in Upper Cumberland Meth distribution sweep.

TBI Press Release:

Partner law enforcement agencies from across the Upper Cumberland region have worked together to secure charges for 12 individuals in connection with an eight-month investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine in several counties.

Authorities from the Cookeville Police Department, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the Crossville Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Overton County Sheriff’s Department, the Pickett County Sheriff’s Office, the Dekalb County Sheriff’s Department, the 13^th Judicial District Drug Task Force, the office of 13^th District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, began investigating the operation in September 2016. During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information about 12 individuals connected to a multi-county methamphetamine distribution operation.

At the time of this release, nine of the individuals had been arrested and booked into the Putnam County Jail:

• Ronnie Edward Argo, Jr., DOB 6-19-88, of Gainesboro
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $75,000 bond
• Joseph Israel Neely, DOB 3-8-81, of Smithville
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $250,000 bond
• Kristan Nicole Harville, DOB 5-23-87, of Baxter
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $250,000 bond
• Darby Dee Brunson, DOB 5-10-88, of Cookeville
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $250,000 bond
• Lindsey L. Goad, DOB 4-28-95, of Gainesboro
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $75,000 bond
• Megan Alissa Fuller, DOB 1-18-81, of Gainesboro
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $75,000 bond
• Ryan Lee Underwood, DOB 5-5-82, of Cookeville
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $75,000 bond
• Nathaniel Harrison Payne, DOB 4-28-81, of Crossville
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $75,000 bond
• James Preston Cumby, DOB 10-20-66, of Cookeville
  • Conspiracy to Distribute Over 300 Grams of Methamphetamine, $75,000 bond

The arrest of the additional three individuals implicated in this investigation is pending.

TBI Agents Investigating Cookeville Arrest-Related Death

TBI News Release by Josh DeVine

At the request of 13^th District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway, TBI Special Agents continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a man while in the process of being arrested overnight by officers from the Cookeville Police Department.

Preliminary information indicates the incident occurred at approximately 12:30 Friday morning, when the Cookeville Police Department received a call alerting them to a man, identified as Richard Thomas Sparks (DOB 1-20-80), walking in the median of Interstate 40 near Mile Marker 288. When an officer arrived and made contact with Sparks, he became combative. A second officer arrived to assist, and the two were able to place Sparks on the ground in handcuffs. A short time later, however, Sparks became unresponsive. The two officers suspected an opioid overdose and administered a dose of naloxone, which was not successful in reviving Sparks. The officers then attempted to use a portable Automatic External Defibrillator (AED), which was also unsuccessful. Medics transported Sparks to Cookeville Regional Medical Center, where doctors pronounced him deceased.

TBI Agents gathered relevant information, interviews, and evidence at the scene early this morning in connection to this active and ongoing case. In turn, investigative findings will be submitted to the District Attorney General for his further review and consideration. As a reminder, the TBI acts as ‘fact-finders’ in its cases. The decision as to whether the actions of the officers were justified rests solely with the District Attorney General.

Per TBI policy, the agency will not identify the officers involved in this incident and will instead refer questions of that nature to their department.

Crossville council agenda item requesting action by DA pulled by councilman Kerley

The agenda item that had the potential to create the biggest controversy during last week's special called Crossville city council meeting was pulled quickly by proponent, councilman Jesse Kerley.

Councilman Jesse Kerley requested the item seeking action by the DA 

but pulled the item without any discussion.

In addition, one item discussed at some length during the regular council meeting and one of the reasons given for having the special called meeting, the hiring of a city comptroller, was not even on the agenda.

When the final item on the agenda, listed as “Request for action by the district attorney's office,” was called Councilman Jesse Kerley who requested the item to be placed on the agenda said he was pulling that item. He then quickly moved to adjourn the meeting.

The item was reportedly concerning allegations of extortion against councilman Pete Souza over derogatory items that had been in interim city manager Steve Hill's personnel file but have since removed from his file by Mr. Hill.

Interim city manager Steve Hill's term has been controversial

District Attorney Bryant Dunaway confirmed that the issue had been discussed at a meeting with him, Mr. Kerley, Mr. Hill and then police chief Rod Shoap. Dunaway said that the information and complaint that he received on the matter did not come to a level that warranted any charges.

The item concerning the hiring of a city comptroller was pulled from the agenda by councilman Danny Wyatt who said he did not have support for his proposal.

Before the meeting was adjourned Mr. Hill asked the council about the deadline on city manager applications. The recently set deadline was October 15. That date falls on a Saturday and Hill asked the council if they wanted to cut off applications the Friday before or the Monday after. A quick poll put the deadline at Monday October 17.  

Immediately following the council meeting, Mr. Kerley's and Mr. Wyatt's vehicles were spotted together at the Beef and Barrel restaurant.  

Mr. Kerley's vehicle on the left and Mr. Wyatt's pickup truck are parked nose to nose following Friday's noon called council meeting.  If the two councilmen discussed any city business, they were potentially in violation of the Tennessee sunshine law.