Federal charges a possibility in Netawaka drug arrest
Whether a Netawaka man will face federal drug-related charges on last week’s arrest after reportedly picking up a package containing marijuana from the Whiting post office is up to federal authorities, both Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse and Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller said.
Johnny Lee Williams, 54, was arrested Tuesday on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute — a Level 2 drug felony, Miller said — as well as possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia after he was observed picking up a package reportedly containing about four pounds of marijuana from the Whiting post office. Morse confirmed on Friday that the package contained marijuana.
Williams is currently being held at the Jackson County Detention Center on $250,000 bond. Miller added that Williams is expected to make his first Jackson County District Court appearance on the charges this Thursday.
Morse said Williams had been alleged to have distributed marijuana from shipments he had been receiving from California. Since the package containing mariijuana had crossed state lines to get to the Whiting post office, it was reported that the case would likely become a federal matter, but both Morse and Miller noted that was up to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Federal prosecutors have high criteria,” Morse said. “They tend to prosecute when bigger packages are involved — usually 10 pounds.”
Furthermore, Morse noted, there are postal inspectors working with the U.S. Postal Service who have federal law enforcement powers, but they “chose not to act, so we acted.”
“This was an investigation we’d been working on for some time,” he added, noting that Williams has been suspected of drug-related activities for several months.
The name of the driver of the Ford Ranger who took Williams from the post office following the Tuesday pick-up and was released at the scene of Williams’ arrest has not yet been made public, nor did Morse expect that criminal charges would be filed against her.
“She was the sister of the accused,” he said. “To the best of our knowledge, she was unaware of what he (Williams) was doing.”
Arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, it was reported.