A man out on bond and recently indicted on multiple charges stemming from a March 2023 drug and weapons arrest, was arrested again on new and additional drug charges.
The Cocke County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) served arrest warrants on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, on Kenneth Thomas Harwell, 44, at his residence on Shropshire Road in the Edwina community of Newport. The arrest warrants stemmed from his 2023 arrest after testing from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) of suspected narcotics that were seized at his home came back positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Harwell was already under a June 17, 2024 indictment by the Cocke County Grand Jury from his 2023 arrest. He is scheduled to be formally arraigned on those charges in Cocke County Circuit Court on July 29, 2024.
A report of the recent arrest from CCSO states that purchases were made from Harwell of methamphetamine and fentanyl on March 6 and March 8, 2023. The positive lab tests led to arrest warrants being issued on two counts of sale and delivery of Schedule II.
According to online court records, Harwell posted a $25,000 surety bond on April 14, 2023 following his March 2023 arrest.
CCSO reports that when serving the warrant on the new charges on July 23, 2024, at Harwell's home in the Edwina community, scales and other paraphernalia were observed in plain sight.
Harwell gave verbal consent for narcotics deputies to search the residence and they report finding, and seizing, $817 in cash located behind a gun safe.
Notably, when arrested in 2023, Harwell also was charged with weapons-related offenses of possession of a firearm while in commission of a dangerous felony and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Multiple weapons seized at that time included an AK-47.
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The June 2024 grand jury indictment related to Harwell's 2023 arrest included two counts of intent to deliver, sell or possess methamphetamine, four counts of Schedule II drugs manufacture, delivery, sell and possession and one count of possession of firearm with intent to go armed - dangerous felony.
While CCSO was searching Harwell's home Tuesday, in addition to the cash, narcotics agents report they also observed on the floor what appeared to be a large pile of heroin crushed into the carpet in an attempt to destroy evidence. They also report finding multiple baggies with the same residue as what was in the carpet that had been ripped open and thrown away. One baggie recovered from the trash contained four grams of heroin.
In addition to the charges in the arrest warrant, Harwell was also charged with tampering with evidence and possession of Schedule I for resale.
Harwell was transported to the Cocke County detention center.
The Cocke County Sheriff's Office advised that Harwell's bond on the charges resulting from his most recent arrest is $200,000.
In a post on its Facebook page, CCSO stated the arrest was undertaken following "continuous complaints of drug activity."
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