The Umansky Law Firm

The sheriff of Carter County, Missouri was arrested and charged with meth distribution earlier this month. The suspect allegedly gave meth to an informant at his remote cabin and then allegedly snorted the drug using a straw. He is being held on a $250,000 bond.

In addition to his arrest, his 23-year-old chief deputy was charged with burglary and receiving stolen property. In this case, it was a gun taken from the evidence room at the department.

Missouri lead the nation in meth lab busts for ten years before being overtaken by Tennessee in 2010. There were 13,000 meth lab "incidents" in Missouri in the past seven years. While other Missouri counties have had dozens of meth busts in recent years, Carter County has had just five. The drop allegedly corresponds to the two years the sheriff has been on the job. Missouri law enforcement believes his involvement with the drug may be the reason why.

Carter County is mostly rural, has just 6000 people, and very few jobs. The sheriff received his law enforcement certification and then ran for sheriff not long after receiving it. His challenger allegedly committed suicide weeks before the election, but before he could be replaced on the ballot. The sheriff then won the election by one vote. He then hired someone as the chief deputy who did not have any law enforcement training before the sheriff paid for her certification training.

These are not excuses as to why these individuals may, or may not, have done what they are accused of doing, but it does give some insight into why hardscrabble communities often find ways outside the law to make ends meet. Missouri is ravaged by meth, of that there can be no doubt. If law enforcement officers are involved in the distributing and use of meth, then Missouri, as well as communities across the country, needs to find the root causes of the problem and deal with those. Treatment is often a better solution than throwing these individuals in jail.

If you have been charged with drug distribution in Orange County or Orlando, Florida, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm today.