LEBANON -- A Trousdale County man has pleaded guilty to charges that he ran a huge underground marijuana-growing operation in a cave hidden under a house. Fred W. Strunk pleaded guilty this morning to three criminal charges: growing marijuana, money laundering and theft. He was sentenced to 12 years on the theft charge and 18 years for growing marijuana, with the sentences to be serve concurrently -- a move that will effectively give him an 18-year sentence. He was ordered to serve at least 30% of his sentence, or a little over five years, before becoming eligible for parole. He also must repay Tri-County Electric a total of $60,001 for electric power he stole from the utility to power the underground lights and other equipment that allowed him to grow the drug in the cave. [end]
Police Responded 'Sloppily' Police officers and paramedics failed to act with urgency when they responded to the scene of an uncooperative man who was shocked repeatedly with Taser stun guns and later died, a lawyer representing the dead man's family said yesterday after viewing a video of the incident. The surveillance video, made public by police yesterday, captured the parking lot outside of the downtown nightclub Mercy Lounge, where Patrick Lee was restrained by police officers after being thrown out of the business for bizarre behavior in September. [continues 499 words]
Residents of the Clearview community on Saturday made several suggestions to improve relations between black Gallatin citizens and the mostly white Gallatin Police Department. Those suggestions included more police presence on Roosevelt Circle during the week, a citizen's review panel and more training for young officers about how to deal with the public. "Chief, tell your police officers that every black person is not a drug dealer," said Walter Hollerman, a retired Sumner County School teacher. City Councilman John D. Alexander, who represents the fifth district that includes Clearview, organized a community meeting between residents and police after several residents complained at a recent city council meeting about racial profiling by the police department. [continues 432 words]
When Ben Patton was an impressionable fifth grader he learned drugs and alcohol could either kill him or land him behind prison bars. "I didn't want any of that. I didn't want to get addicted, and I didn't want to go to jail," says the Portland High School junior who along with his peers and most of the community were shocked to learn the Sumner County Sheriff's Department was no longer supporting the 20-year-old Drug Abuse Awareness Education program. [continues 514 words]
