Probe nets 2 arrests, seizure of pills, guns and cash in Grundy, Marion counties [photos]

Authorities in Grundy and Marion counties, along with 12th Judicial District Drug Task Force officers arrested two Coalmont, Tenn., residents they say were involved in the distribution of more than 100,000 illegal prescription pills and counterfeit pills that contained the dangerous drug Fentanyl.
Authorities in Grundy and Marion counties, along with 12th Judicial District Drug Task Force officers arrested two Coalmont, Tenn., residents they say were involved in the distribution of more than 100,000 illegal prescription pills and counterfeit pills that contained the dangerous drug Fentanyl.

Authorities in Grundy and Marion counties, along with 12th Judicial District Drug Task Force officers arrested two Coalmont, Tenn., residents they say were involved in the distribution of more than 100,000 illegal prescription pills and counterfeit pills that contained the dangerous drug Fentanyl.

In an investigation over the last several months, DTF agents and sheriff's officers in Grundy and Marion counties worked to develop information that led to search warrants at homes in both counties and the seizure of illegal pills, nearly $40,000 in cash officials described as "proceeds," vehicles used to transport the drugs, counter-surveillance equipment and guns, Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum said in a statement on the operation.

In April of this year, authorities executed a search warrant at a Marion County home after DTF agents developed information that a large volume of illegal pills were being distributed from that residence, Shrum said.

The continued investigation also identified two additional locations inside Grundy County used for distributing pills, he said.

photo Anthony Leiderman aka "Jaili Barbee"
photo Nona Kilgore

On Tuesday, the DTF and Grundy officers conducted searches at the two residences which resulted in the arrests of Anthony Leiderman, who also is known as "Jaili Barbee," and Nona Kilgore, Shrum said.

Leiderman was charged with possession of a schedule II controlled substance for resale and resisting arrest after a search at his home at 226 Pickett Lake Road in Coalmont.

Deputies arriving at the scene found Leiderman trying to flush illegal pills down a toilet in the home, the sheriff said. When deputies encountered Leiderman, he continued to resist arrest in an effort to destroy the pills.

The officers recovered some of the pills as evidence by removing the toilet and dismantling some of the plumbing, Shrum said.

In the second search, Kilgore, of 6463 State Route 56 in Coalmont, was charged with possession of a schedule IV controlled substance for resale after officers found hundreds of illegal pills, Shrum said.

Shrum said DTF agents were able to identify Kilgore as being a key local source for many of the illegal pills being trafficked into Grundy County and parts of Marion County.

The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected after another presentation to the grandjury, the sheriff said.

"(B)etween the overdoses and addictions, there is no telling how lives have been ruined by the sell and consumption of these drugs," Shrum said in the statement. "On the flip side of that, there is no way to measure the number of lives that will be positively impacted by the success of this investigation."

Shrum praised the collaborative effort among the three agencies.

"(T)his investigation was aimed at slowing down the flow of illegal pills into our communities and that the people who traffic these large volume of pills are one of the reasons why the opioid epidemic is so bad all across this country," Marion County Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett said in the statement.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.

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