Group home worker accused of transporting drugs in van carrying residents

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The West Tennessee Drug Task Force says employees of a Jackson, Tennessee, group home took two residents on a ride in the country and picked up five pounds of marijuana during the trip.

One of the workers is now facing one count of possession of Schedule VI drugs with intent to sell and two counts of neglect of a vulnerable adult.

Agents with the 28th District out of Brownsville, working in partnership with the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Service, the D.E.A., T.B.I., and Brownsville Police Department, made the drug bust Monday at a residence in Haywood County.

They said a postal inspector had delivered two packages containing the drugs to the home, and they were waiting to see who picked them up.

Agents reported that a woman exited a group home van and put the packages by the feet of one of the vulnerable adults. The agents stopped the van in the driveway, confiscated the packages, and arrested the group employee who they claimed was picking up the packages from a relative’s house.

West Tennessee Task Force Director Johnie Carter said children and vulnerable adults are often victims without a voice when someone responsible for their care gets into the drug scene.

“I’ve been working drugs for 26 years, and I quit saying I’ve seen it all after the first year,” said Carter.

Both vulnerable adults were released to a caregiver supervisor, who was dispatched to the scene.

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