GPS Technology Activated for Sex Offenders

A Lee County man will be monitored by a Global Positioning System for the rest of his life. Murnice Chandler was convicted on 21 counts of indecent liberties with a child and was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison.

See the entire story and video here.

Drug Raid Nets 3 Arrests and $5.7 Million in Drugs

A joint investigation initiated by the Unites States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and assisted by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the seizure of approximately 2,400 pounds of Marijuana and the arrest of three persons on 1-25-2008 on White Hill Road in Sanford.

Thomas Beltran Ayala, 32, of Red Springs North Carolina, Auturo Celis Elizalde, 27, of Raeford, North Carolina, and Hector Javier Rivera-Lomas, 28, of Atascosa, Texas were all charged with Trafficking Marijuana, Maintaining a vehicle to keep and store controlled substances and possession of drug paraphernalia. All three were placed in the Lee County Jail under $1,000,000.00 secured bond. The estimated street value of the seized drugs is 5.7 million dollars. Due to the on going nature of the investigation, further information is not available for release at this time.

Click here for the Sanford Herald story.

Drug Agent Shot During Drug Operation

(Update as of Tuesday, Jan 15th. )


A Lee County drug agent working as part of an undercover investiga­tion in Burlington was shot through the leg Thursday afternoon. Deputy Charles Dew, 28, is recovering at an Alamance County hospital and is expected to be fine.Authorities detained two suspects and a third is at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill after being shot by another deputy during the course of the incident.Lee County Sheriff Tracy Carter said his department was working a joint investigation with the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office that originated in Lee County but moved to Burlington on Wednesday.Carter said the shooting happened around 2:56 p.m. when Dew, who was working under­cover, approached a vehicle as it sat on the side of a residential street in Burlington in an effort to buy a kilogram of cocaine from three suspects inside.Instead, the suspects reportedly tried to rob Dew. “He had $ 17,500 on him, and they robbed him of it,” Carter said. “After that, one of the suspects shot (Dew). He radioed for backup and the officers on the perimeter moved in.” Detective Van Holly of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspects as Gean Christopher Jerez, 17; Jose Antonio Morales, 19; and Marcus Lee Thompson, 20. All three men have Burlington addresses. Holly said that Jerez has been identified as the alleged shooter. After the shooting, all three suspects report­edly tried to flee on foot, but deputies were able to detain Jerez and Thompson. Morales was located a short distance away and was apprehended after an officer shot him in the face.WRAL-TV reported Thursday afternoon that Morales was listed in critical condition, although that could not be independently veri­fied.It remained unclear Thursday who actu­ally shot Morales, although Carter said he believed it was a member of his staff and not an Alamance deputy.The State Bureau of Investigation is con­ducting a probe into the incident, as is com­mon practice any time an officer is involved in a shooting.Dew has worked with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office as a drug agent since December 2006. Before that, he was a patrol deputy with the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.“Charles is to be commended,” Carter said Thursday afternoon. “He acted with bravery and valor. This is an example of the dangers our drug agents face every day, and we hope the courts will take notice of this sort of thing.” Jerez and Thompson were both charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and placed in the Alamance County Jail under $ 1 million secured bond each. Holly said further charges are pending.Morales is expected to be served with war­rants for the same charges if he recovers from his injuries. Jerez was also charged with possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana after officials found an undisclosed amount of the drug in his pocket when they arrested him.

Click Here for the WFMY news broadcast.

Annual Report Card for Sheriff Carter

Have you asked yourself, "Just what has this new Sheriff done since he was elected a year ago?" Here is a snapshot of what's been accomplished in the first 12 months of office.



Operationally

• Created a five person narcotics investigations unit operational. Confiscated $4.8 million in drugs.
• Brought onboard a highly trained K-9 unit to assist in locating illegal drugs.
• Major Enforcement directed at sex offenders who had failed to maintain current registrations of their residence with the Sheriff’s Office
• Implemented Community meetings in Jan 2007.
• Shutdown an illegal gambling operation.
• Regular scheduled DWI and traffic checkpoints
• Regular scheduled Jail inspections
• Outfitted Jail staff with Taser weapons
• Increased Jail staff training by 300%
• Inmate health care plan through Southern Health Partners
• Increased SWAT Team training
• Improved courtroom security. Inmates are now shackled prior to appearing in District Court
• Shutdown counterfeiting ring involved in illegal movies, CD’s and games
• Implemented a Crime Scene Investigator to increase crime solvability rates for victims
• Improved technology in the field by updating all the patrol vehicles with modern laptops and mobile printers. This helps them remain in their patrol areas more without having to return to the office.
• Aggressively pursuing staff training for the I.C.E. program–287 (g)
• Use of tax warrants to seize drug dealer assets. Received $90,655.00 Asset Forfeiture money.
• Recovered stolen property in excess of $ 694,761.32
• Improved the tactical and uniform gear for field personnel.
• Improved the vehicle fleet with new and gas saving vehicles.
• Department has (and continues) to overhaul the Standard Operating Procedures in order to increase efficiency and accountability.
  

Community Oriented

• Community policing - Patrol Deputies have been given community policing activity logs to plan and report two community policing activities each month. They can use elements of the community such as civic groups, community meetings, and schools as forums for community policing activities. (Five such contacts count as one community activity). Some examples of such contact programs include "Keep Check on the Elderly" and "Checking Back With Victims" and "Meet New Neighbors".
• Launched an extensive upgrade to the LCSO County web site to include http://www.yourlocalsheriff.com/, and online Sheriff’s Newsletter.
• Employing innovative new tactics: Example: Bob The Bounty Hunter, a segment of radio station G105 that has enlisted the aid of the public in locating fugitives.
• Implemented two local radio broadcast to keep the public informed . Dead Beat Dad (Parent) blog site implemented and has been showcased on WRAL and WTVD.
• Implemented the following community programs; “Caring for Seniors”; “Shopping with the Sheriff” (program for less fortunate children at Christmas); Boys and Girls Home (Gone Fishing and Rising Stars)
• National Night Out at 7 locations across the county
• Held a total of 28 Community Meeting and still counting
  
  Drug Stats
  We have seized the following in 2007:
• 14,693.5 Grams of Cocaine
• 78,487.5 Grams of Marijuana
• 473 Marijuana Plants
• 64 Firearms
• Approx $96,915 in cash from drug dealers
• Total “Street Value” of the seized drugs is approx. $4,800,000.00
• Other drugs seized include Meth, mushrooms, prescription drugs etc.
• We have arrested 224 suspects and written another 234 drug related misdemeanor
  citations
• We have had $109,000.00 returned to us from asset forfeiture that can be used for
  equipment, training etc.
  
  Drugs stats prior to Sheriff Carter being electedfor the year 2006; (Note - Drug Task Force stats below were with an 8 man team where a 5 man team accomplished the above stats)
• 6,804.9 grams of Cocaine
• 14,949.3 grams of Marijuana
• 59 Marijuana Plants
• 23 Firearms
• $62,656.40 US Currency seized from drug dealers
• Estimated street value of all drugs seized $1,947,583.00
  

You can click here for The Sanford Heralds report.