How the Sheriff in a nearby county became the number 1 drug kingpin, money launderer, drug addict, and embezzler of public funds
Prescription
drug abuse has become an epidemic in America. Few places have been
hit harder than Tennessee and Kentucky--both are states that have
been ravaged by addiction to methamphetamine, oxycodone, and
prescription pain pills.
Case-in-point,
Whitley County, Kentucky: a place where the similarities to Monroe County, TN are an almost daily reminder posted in the local tabloid--in which over half of the daily content covers drug-busts,
scams, and disintegration of the social fabric--directly
related to aberrant lifestyles…
In Whitley County, matters were made worse when the man suspected of being at the center of the drug trade was the county's top law enforcement officer, Sheriff Lawrence Hodge—who by all accounts had become “untouchable”…
In Whitley County, matters were made worse when the man suspected of being at the center of the drug trade was the county's top law enforcement officer, Sheriff Lawrence Hodge—who by all accounts had become “untouchable”…
Both the FBI and the state police had tried building a case, but Hodge had become very insulated, and they couldn't penetrate his inner circle of drug-dealers, crooked attorneys and politicians...there was fear of what Hodge might do if anyone co-operated with federal authorities or the state police.
Hodge had been elected with the promise he would 'clean things up' – but early in his tenure there were rumors that “the Sheriff had gone bad.” ATF special agent Todd E. Tremaine recalls that Hodge began taking pay-offs from drug-dealers and extorting money from defendants. He also developed a serious drug habit. Authorities were able to bring charges against Hodge from an undercover investigation by two reporters from the local newspaper, who suspected Hodge may have an incriminating "paper trail," which led them to the sheriff's office evidence log.
Hodge was finally snared by the long arm of the law, click on video, "When Cops Go Bad" --he eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to extortion, distributing drugs, and money laundering—he was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison...and in 2013, state charges added another 17 years which included multiple counts of abuse of the public trust and 3 counts of tampering with evidence.
Hodge will be eligible for parole on November 8, 2024
