Canton teacher arrested
on drug trafficking charges

CANTON — A Canton Middle School teacher faces charges of drug trafficking after police say she purchased opiates from an undercover officer.

Selena Bell Blad, 46, of 168 Cindy Lane in Waynesville was arrested last Monday and charged with felony trafficking opium.
She is the second Canton Middle School techer arrested in the past two weeks as a result of undercover police operations.
On Jan. 24, Waynesville detectives arrested seventh-grade social studies teacher Thomas Eric Allen Jr., 45, on charges of felony solicitation of a child by computer to commit an unlawful sex act.

He is accused of trying to arrange a meeting for sex with an undercover officer who was pretending to be a teenage boy.
Waynesville police had received information about Blad last month from an informant who told them there was a woman in the Ninevah community who was looking for drugs.

Blad was given the phone number of an undercover officer, who posed as a drug dealer and sold her a large amount of drugs, according to the arrest report.

She was released from custody on a written promise to appear.

Blad had been working for Haywood County Schools teaching children with special needs since September.

Both Blad and Allen have been banned from school property and are facing dismissal pending a decision by the school board.

Man accused in shooting
had gang ties, police say

A man accused of shooting three people at an Asheville recreation center last year had ties to gangs, but probably was not acting out of gang rivalry, according to police.

Tilman DeAngelo Jackson, 21, was arrested last week after turning himself in to police.

Authorities say Jackson opened fire on a crowd during a basketball game at the Stephens-Lee Recreation Center on July 23, injuring three people.

Jackson has admitted that he was there at the time, but has denied any involvement with the shooting.

Police seized clothes, a Christmas stocking and other items that were emblazoned with gang-related writing during a raid of Jackson’s home last Thursday.

Detectives say he is a member of the local M Zone Ryda gang, formed in the Martin Luther King Boulevard area just east of downtown.

A witness who claims to have been the intended target of the attack is not a gang member, and police say the shooting was not specifically gang related.

However, the witness, who contacted police on July 25, said that Jackson was the shooter and that he was targeted because he had declined offers to join the Bloods gang.

The witness initially refused to come forward, but changed his mind after being arrested in New Jersey for probation violations on Jan. 8.

According to the arrest report, Jackson entered the gym through its main entrance with his face and head covered, and began firing toward people seated in the bleachers.

Jackson was released from jail after posting a $15,000 bond.

Hot Dog King owner agrees
to testify in gambling cases

The owner of a chain of Hot Dog King restaurants has pleaded guilty to federal gambling charges in exchange for testifying against other suspects in the sweeping investigation into illegal video poker gambling in Western North Carolina.

Under the plea deal made with Demetre Theodossis, the restauranteur must testify against any co-defendants prosecutors designate.

Court documents do not indicate which suspects Theodossis will be called to testify against, but former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford is among those who have been arrested in the case.

Medford is accused of moving thousands of dollars in video gambling proceeds through his office and using his position to extort money from operators of illegal video poker operations.

In exchange for pleading guilty to illegal gambling and two counts of fraud and false statements, Theodossis will not be charged with any further crimes related to the case, or to his “payments of money to any persons affiliated with with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office,” according to the terms of the deal.

Medford and three of his former deputies currently are awaiting trial.

Federal and state agents raided Theodossis’ home on Nov. 14, 2006, and seized more than $1.8 million in cash that was hidden inside false walls and dog food containers.

On the same day, someone from the Sheriff’s Office made five phone calls to two businesses run by longtime Medford supporter Jack W. Shepherd, of Weaverville.

Shepherd is awaiting trial for charges of running an illegal gambling operation in a separate case that has ties to Medford.
North Carolina banned video poker machines as of July 1. Prior to that time, businesses had been allowed to keep up to three machines that paid up to $10 in store merchandise.

However, the businesses cited in the case are accused of keeping illegal machines in backrooms that paid cash.

Federal prosecutors say that Theodossis and others conducted the illegal gambling operation between Oct. 1, 2000, and Nov. 14, 2006, taking in daily revenues as high as $2,000.

The machines were located at various locations throughout Buncombe County, including many of the restaurants owned by Theodossis. At businesses he did not own, Theodossis would split the profits with the business owner, the federal government said.

As part of the deal, he also is required to pay back taxes on the cash profits made from the Hot Dog King restaurants in the amount of $321,255.

He faces a maximum of 11 years in prison and fines totalling $750,000.

Meanwhile, 31 people have been arrested in the ongoing investigation into illegal gambling operations in Western North Carolina.

Weaverville man arrested in Mars Hill drug store theft

MARS HILL — A Weaverville man is accused of stealing more than 5,000 doses of prescription drugs from a pharmacy in Mars Hill.

Jonathan Reece Greene, 22, was arrested by Madison County detectives in the parking lot of his apartment building on Hamburg Drive in Weaverville last Wednesday evening.

He was charged with felony breaking and entering and felony larceny.

Detectives say Greene broke into the Mars Hill Pharmacy on Jan. 31 and stole 5,200 doses of Percocet, Oxycontin, oxycodone and methadone.

He was released from jail Wednesday night after posting $7,000 bond.

Prostitution crackdown aims
to shame accused clients

The Asheville Police Department launched a new program last week that aims to embarrass people arrested on prostitution charges by publishing their photos on television and on the city’s Web site.

The program, which was announced last Wednesday, is an attempt to stop repeat offenders in neighborhoods where the sex trade is attracting drugs and violent crimes, police said.

The department has been attempting to crack down on prostitution, especially around South French Broad Street and Coxe and Hilliard avenues. More than 100 prostitutes have been arrested in Asheville during the last three years, according to officials. Currently, between 20 and 25 prostitutes work in the city.

The online blotter showed information and photos for 13 people on Wednesday who had been arrested in a series of raids in recent weeks. The department says it plans to release more.

The photos also are being aired on the Asheville Channel Bulletin Board (Charter channel 11).

Furthermore, police have begun writing down the license-plate numbers of cars that are frequently seen in areas known for drugs or prostitution. The APD then mails out a letter to the vehicle’s owner informing them that it was seen there.

Police said they have wanted to take the measures for years, but have lacked the staff to do so until now.

Because soliciting sex is only a Class I misdemeanor, offenders rarely get jail time and often become repeat offenders.

Police have no plans, however, to broadcast or publish whether those who were arrested for prostitution crimes are acquitted.

Man charged in meth raid
at his home in Leicester

LEICESTER — Buncombe County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Leicester man on multiple drug and weapons charges last week.

Deputies raided the home of Jeremy Shawn Hollifield, 27, at 26 Caldwell Rd. There, they found guns and a half-pound of methamphetamine, according to warrants.

Hollifield faces 13 charges, including trafficking methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a felon.

He also had nine outstanding warrants served by the Asheville Police Department, including drug trafficking, resisting arrest and possession of stolen vehicles.

Hollifield was being held at the Buncombe County jail last Tuesday. His bond for the 22 charges was set at $150,500.
He has been caught before with large amounts of meth, according to a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Deputies got a tip about Hollifield’s whereabouts after he was featured on the television programs Fugitive Files and Mountains’ Most Wanted.

Hollifield tried to escape during the raid by fleeing out the back of the house and throwing away the drugs, but he was captured, officials said.

There was no evidence the home was being used to manufacture the drug.

Two women, Linda Kristen Bryson, 23, and Kimberly Brown Owenby, 29, also were arrested during the raid. They face multiple drug charges.