DRUG SUSPECT MAKES FIRST COURT APPEARANCE

COLERIDGE -- Randolph County Sheriff Litchard Hurley says Jerry Lea Kidd was "slick," secretly farming his marijuana on other people's property, burying it in holes around his Bennett barn, stashing his money under a doghouse and always covering his tracks.

But Tuesday, after a six-month investigation by Randolph and Chatham sheriffs' deputies, Kidd was arrested and more than $35,000 in drugs and cash seized, authorities said.

"He's been one of the hardest ones to catch," said Hurley. "He's sharp." Kidd, 60, of 231 Washington St., faces a list of charges, some of them stemming from the moonshine whiskey deputies said they seized from his barn on West Buffalo Street.

In Chatham County, Kidd is charged with trafficking in marijuana, manufacturing marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver, maintaining a place to keep a controlled substance, North Carolina alcohol law violations and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Randolph deputies have charged Kidd with the sale or delivery of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver, and felony possession of marijuana.

Kidd's bond was $30,000 in Chatham County, where he told a judge during a first appearance in District Court on Wednesday that he would hire his own lawyer. No first appearance date or bond has been set for Kidd in Randolph County.

Hurley said Randolph and Chatham investigators suspected Kidd was dealing drugs back in the early 1990s but couldn't prove it.

"He's one of these type guys who has made comments that law enforcement was not smart enough to get him," the sheriff said. "He had a slick operation down there."

Officers got new information about Kidd earlier this year, Hurley said. The ensuing investigation involved undercover drug buys and surveillance, which deputies said allowed them to observe some of Kidd's practices.

On Tuesday, deputies raided Kidd's home and barn, both near the Randolph County line. They said they seized 10 pounds, 13 ounces of marijuana buried in three sealed 5-gallon buckets in the woods near the barn. The pot has a street value of at least $20,000, detectives said. Hurley said deputies found five holes, but two were empty. All were dug with an auger.

Deputies said they also confiscated 24 plastic gallon jugs of white liquor; about $15,536 in cash, some of it found under a doghouse; drug paraphernalia, including scales; and a 1998 Chevrolet truck.

A Highway Patrol helicopter helped search around Kidd's farm Tuesday, but officers said they spotted no marijuana plants. The area is near the Moore County line, and Hurley said Kidd may have traveled several miles into the secluded countryside to grow pot.

"We know he's growing it somewhere," the sheriff said, "we just don't know where."

One of the items that deputies said they seized Tuesday was a cage-like contraption that Kidd allegedly covered with camouflage netting and used to cure his marijuana after harvesting it. Hurley said Kidd kept the screen-covered drying box on land adjoining his barn. The only way to get to it was to climb over a fence and walk along a narrow path through a rugged area where crews had cut timber, leaving stumps and brush piles.

"He's been tough to get," the sheriff said.