19 NABBED IN 1-YEAR DRUG PROBE

Police say that they found it hard to infiltrate the small, tightknit
drug community in Lebanon.

LEBANON, Ind. (Nov. 6, 1998) -- The tenet "everyone knows everyone"
lends to the charm as well as the frustration of small town life.

Police who worked months to get a foot in the door of Lebanon's
drug-dealing community found how that truism works against law
enforcement.

A yearlong investigation dubbed Operation Small Town culminated
Thursday with pre-dawn sweeps by 75 state, county and local police
officers with warrants for 21 people allegedly linked to drug
trafficking in Lebanon.

By Thursday afternoon, 19 of the people named in warrants had been
arrested, including two suspects apprehended in Michigan. Three people
not named in the warrants were snagged on unrelated charges.

"This is no small task when you consider that Lebanon is a small,
tightknit community and the dealers all know one another," said
Detective Troy Knorr, who led the investigation for State Police.
"Their communication system is extensive, and infiltrating their
groups was difficult."

That communication system was apparent when police in Michigan went to
a job site in Muskegon to pick up two of the suspects, and the
suspects already knew about the arrests under way in Lebanon.

"They had information that the warrants were happening and tried to
get away from work," Knorr said. "We got one of them traveling down
the road."

Michael Eldon Strode, 25, and Jason E. Doty, 23, both of Lebanon, were
taken into custody in Michigan.

Strode was charged with 10 counts, including dealing and possession of
marijuana in amounts greater than 30 grams (about 1 ounce) and within
1,000 feet of Stokes Elementary School.

Doty was charged with dealing and possession of cocaine within 1,000
feet of a day-care center.

Knorr said none of the defendants was specifically charged with
selling drugs to schoolchildren, but two were charged with neglect for
allegedly dealing drugs in front of their children. Two of the
defendants face enhanced charges of dealing near a park or public
housing complex.

Officials shied from describing the dealers as a drug ring but said
many of them had the same marijuana supplier.

"Tim 'Tool Time' Stump was the supplier of probably 75 percent of all
the marijuana in that town," Knorr claimed. "He had a good connection
and was probably moving 5 to 10 pounds of marijuana every other week."

Stump, 33, was charged with five felony counts including dealing and
conspiracy to deal marijuana near a school, possession of marijuana
and maintaining a common nuisance. Knorr said Stump had cash to post
his $10,000 bond.

One of the suspects picked up Thursday was on probation after serving
six months of a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to deal LSD next door
to Lebanon High School.

Dallas Vanlandingham, 22, was charged Thursday with dealing and
possession of marijuana. Superior Court 2 Judge James R. Detamore, who
signed off on Vanlandingham's arrest warrant, set bond at $50,000 for
the two misdemeanor counts.

Boone County Prosecutor-elect John Buchanan said Vanlandingham pleaded
guilty about a year ago to the LSD charge. Detamore sentenced
Vanlandingham to 20 years in prison with 19 years suspended, Buchanan
said.

Knorr said police confiscated nearly 600 doses of LSD and several
1-ounce and 1/2-ounce packages of marijuana from Vanlandingham's home
next door to the high school when he was arrested in 1996.

"It's frustrating as a police officer to spend all that time and
energy on a case and have it pushed aside," Knorr said. "Until the

community steps up and says: 'Not in my town,' it's hard for us to
come in."

Knorr said Sheriff Ern Hudson and Sheriff's Detective Albert Hendrix
asked State Police for help battling Lebanon's drug problem.

Knorr said, "In small towns, it's really tough to do (make arrests) in
substantial numbers or large quantities (of drugs). You need to
infiltrate this group. They don't trust you if they don't know you. In
small towns, everybody knows everybody."

A State Police officer on a team serving warrants at one address
Thursday shot and killed a dog that was holding police at bay, said
Sheriff-elect Dennis Brannon.

Brannon said the dog belonged to Dana Dickey, 41. Buchanan said Dickey
was charged with a felony count of maintaining a common nuisance for
allowing the sale of marijuana from her Walnut Street home.

Police also sought to serve an arrest warrant on Brent C. Krout, 23,
at Dickey's home, but he wasn't there, Buchanan said.

Of those named in warrants, Krout and Jason Maxwell were the only ones
who had not been taken into custody Thursday. Krout is charged with
four counts of dealing and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.

Maxwell, 22, who has a Whitestown address, was charged with dealing
and conspiracy to deal cocaine, both felonies.

Also arrested on warrants Thursday were:

Nathan A. Bartlett, 22, charged with dealing, conspiracy to deal and
possession of cocaine.

Brian Culley, 32, charged with nine counts including dealing marijuana
within 1,000 feet of Abner Longley Southside Park, possession of
marijuana and neglect for allegedly selling marijuana in the presence
of his daughters.

Steven L. Tallent Jr., 19, charged with seven counts involving dealing
and possession of marijuana and dealing marijuana near a school.

Also arrested on charges of dealing and possession of marijuana were
Jay Alford, 24; Janice Blanton, 39; David Ford, 39; Timothy W.
Gregory, 31; James M. Hedge, 26; Tommy Scott, 21; and Joe Stowers,
whose age was not available.

William C. Gosnell, 22, was charged with dealing and conspiracy to
deal marijuana.

Police who went to Gosnell's home also arrested Dustin Demaree of
Lebanon on a charge of possession of marijuana. Also picked up during
the sweep on outstanding warrants unrelated to Operation Small Town
were Steven Conklin and Michael Netherton.

Officers gathered before 6 a.m. at the Boone County Jail, then fanned
out in teams to bring in suspects. They discovered one already in jail.

Ty Howard, whose age was not available, was charged with dealing and
possession of marijuana. He had been arrested Wednesday on an
unrelated matter, Buchanan said.

Two of the defendants, Jay T. Whitsitt, 19, and James R. Morgan, 26,
arranged to surrender Thursday, Buchanan said.

Whitsitt was charged with dealing marijuana within 1,000 feet of Abner
Longley Southside Park and within 1,000 feet of Indiana Springs
Apartments, a public housing complex, and possession of marijuana.

Morgan was charged with dealing Diazepam and possession of Diazepam
without a prescription, dealing and possession of marijuana and child
neglect.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady