A Smyrna man was convicted on felony drug charges on May 2 following a two day jury trial in the Rutherford County Circuit Court. Roy A. Smith, 55, was found guilty of two misdemeanor charges of possession and two felonies that included Possession of Schedule 3 Narcotics for Resale and Maintaining a Dwelling for the Purpose of Selling Narcotics.  Robert Rickman has more...

VERBATIM

On June 15, 2012, an early morning search warrant was served at the home located at 8732 Rocky Fork Almaville Road that resulted in the charges. The Vice/Narcotics Division of the La Vergne Police Department, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, and the National Guard Counter Drug Task Force participated in the joint operation to serve the search warrant. At the time, a GMC pickup truck, cash, 730 Hydrocodone pills, and Oxycodone pills were removed from the home.

As a result of the conviction, Smith faces sentencing on July 8, which will include a mandatory minimum of 12 years on the felony counts. In addition, he violated probation with 25 years left on a previous sentence.

News of the conviction comes on the heels of the “Crime in Tennessee 2012” Report by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation showing La Vergne experienced its lowest crime rate in at least a decade. There were 154 narcotics offenses in 2012, up from 133 in 2011.

“This increase of nearly 14 percent in drug arrests shows that our narcotics officers have been aggressively pursuing dope dealers,” said Police Chief Mike Walker. “I have said it before and will say again, we will do everything in our power to keep drugs off the street in La Vergne. We will arrest criminals and charge them to the fullest extent of the law.”