//Drug Sweep nets multiple Arrests

Drug Sweep nets multiple Arrests

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Crime

PERRY — A six-month investigation by authorities last year involving surveillance and a wire tap has resulted in more than a dozen people being indicted in Houston County on drug charges.

Among those indicted was Robert Allen Slade, 49, the original target of the investigation. He was indicted Sept. 29 on two counts of distribution of methamphetamine and one count of possession of cocaine.

Slade’s arraignment hearing Wednesday in Superior Court was continued until a later date.

“I think he would dispute the allegations against him,” said Slade’s attorney, Floyd Buford of Macon.

Slade is being held in the Laurens County jail on an unrelated federal Drug Enforcement Administration case in which he is accused of trafficking methamphetamine. He has pleaded not guilty, Buford said.

Authorities started watching Slade’s residence in Warner Robins in April 2014 and later started listening to his cellphone calls and reading his text messages, said Houston County sheriff’s Sgt. Wayne Franklin, who headed the investigation.

Authorities also recovered hours of video surveillance footage from Slade’s home when it was raided Oct. 20, 2014. The footage came from surveillance cameras that Slade himself had installed that continuously recorded, Franklin said.

Three other men were indicted in the same indictment: Shaun Richardson Woody, 33, of Richland; Charles Christopher Westfaul, 44, of Warner Robins; and Richard Brantley Moncrief, 37, of Warner Robins.

Woody was indicted on a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, Westfaul on a charge of methamphetamine possession, and Moncrief on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Moncrief pleaded not guilty Wednesday, while Woody and Westfaul await arraignment.

Several others were indicted in connection with the drug investigation in a separate indictment also handed up by a Houston County grand jury Sept. 29.

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