Lewis County Herald - Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898

On March 11, 2022, Patrolman Kalum Halfacre, conducted a traffic stop for tag lights not illuminating on a black Toyota Camry on Switzerland Road close to Swiss Colony Road. Before exiting the vehicle, a light colored four door car pulled next to the patrol car. Halfacre spoke with the driver of the vehicle and identified him as Michael Sowell (Black). Mr. Sowell asked "What did I do wrong, was I speeding?" Halfacre advised Mr. Sowell that he was pulling the Camry over.

Halfacre then approached the driver side door of Camry and could smell an overwhelming smell of fragrance. The driver, Noreasha Roger, 35, of Mount Pleasant, was asked if there was any marijuana in the vehicle or if anyone had smoked marijuana inside of the vehicle, in which she denied. He noticed a Crown Royal bag in the center console. When asked what was in the bag, Rogers advised that she did not know.

About this time, Halfacre requested K-9 Officer Cody Atkinson with the Lewis County Sheriff's Department to come to the traffic stop. When Atkinson arrived, he deployed his K-9 partner, Titan, on the vehicle. Titan alerted to the drivers side door.

While searching, a grayish powder was found inside the Crown Royal bag. The powder later weighed 135 grams with packaging and is believed to be Fentanyl but is still under investigation. Deputy Nick Reeves then placed Rogers in custody and later read her Miranda Rights. While finishing search of the vehicle, Halfacre located individual white packages that smelled like vinegar located inside of black plastic wrap in the passenger side rear floor board. The packages where later confirmed to contain methamphetamine. The total weight of the packages was 2,339.7 grams with packaging (just over five pounds).

Rogers was transported to the Hohenwald Police Department for an interview. Rogers did not want to speak with officers and was then transported to the Lewis County Jail on Felony Drug charges including methamphetamine-manufacture, deliver, sell, possess and driving while in possession of methamphetamine. Other charges are pending until results are confirmed. She was placed on a 1.3 million dollar bond.

If lab results confirm the grayish powder to be Fentanyl, that would have been enough to kill approximately 60,000 people. The latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that between May 2020 and April 2021, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the country were tied to the illicitly manufactured Fentanyl or its chemical cousins.

On March 7, 2022 the Lewis County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at 241 Duchess Lane. The search warrant was the result of an investigation conducted by Lewis County Sheriff's Office Investigators. The search yielded just over a pound (460.62 grams) of methamphetamines, 1.3 grams of cocaine, morphine pills, Adderall pills, Xanax bars, two firearms, $4,744.00 in currency, a professional money counter, drug paraphernalia, an indoor grow operation and approximately a pound of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana or a derivative thereof (all narcotics pending lab results).

Joshua David French was subsequently charged with aggravated assault and unlawful carry/possession of a firearm stemming from the initial investigation. Charges against French stemmed from the execution of the search warrant includes felony manufacture/delivery/sale/possession of methamphetamines, five counts of simple possession of scheduled narcotics, two counts of unlawful possession of firearm, and possession of firearm during commission of a dangerous felony.

Sheriff Dwayne Kilpatrick added that the Lewis County Sheriff's Office's goal is to continue going after and stopping drug dealers at work in our county.