MOUNT VERNON — Indictments were returned in eight cases on Monday by a Knox County grand jury. Arraignments are scheduled for Oct. 24 at 9 a.m., in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas before Judge Otho Eyster.
According to Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher, Cheryl E. Jarrell, 46, Mount Vernon, faces a 28-count indictment containing charges of illegal processing of drug documents, deception to obtain dangerous drugs, drug trafficking and insurance fraud. Thatcher said between December 2006 and May 2007, when Jarrell worked at a local doctor’s office, she allegedly procured prescriptions for narcotics under several patients’ names without the doctor’s authority. Jarrell is accused of distributing the drugs to others, and on two occasions she allegedly received money from the patients’ insurance companies for the prescriptions. Detective Craig Feeney, Mount Vernon Police Department, investigated the case.
Scott E. Vance, 22, Mount Vernon, is accused of aggravated trafficking in drugs and aggravated possession of drugs. On Sept. 12, Vance allegedly sold Oxycontin pills to a confidential informant working for the MVPD. Oxycontin is a Schedule II controlled substance, according to Thatcher. Detective Cpl. Matt Dailey investigated the case.
The grand jury indicted Andrew Z. Beery, 25, Mount Sterling, on charges of tampering with evidence, insurance fraud and falsification. On Sept. 9, 2007, at about 4 a.m., Beery was involved in a pursuit with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. At 6:11 a.m., the Mount Vernon Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire on Banning Road. At 6:18 a.m., Beery reported to the MVPD that his Jeep had been stolen. On June 9, 2008, however, Beery entered a guilty plea to a criminal charge in Morrow County stemming from the pursuit with the state patrol. It is alleged that Beery made a false police report to the MVPD about the theft of his Jeep and that he defrauded his insurance company when he filed a claim for the fire-damaged Jeep and its contents. Feeney investigated the case.
Jeffrey H. Budd, 47, Martinsburg, is also accused of insurance fraud for allegedly submitting a fraudulent claim to an insurance company on Feb. 4, 2007. Gary Diehl, Fraud Division, Ohio Department of Insurance, investigated the case.
On Sept. 19 at about 10 p.m., Lee A. Martin, 33, Danville, allegedly punched Sgt. Tom Looney in the head and bit Officer Joe Mazzari on the arm, when the Danville Police officers attempted to arrest him for disorderly conduct. Before the officers arrived, Martin had been in the roadway on South Market Street punching cars as they passed by, and he was highly intoxicated. Martin faces two counts of assault on a peace officer.
According to the indictment, Benjamin L. Dunham, 31, Howard, is prohibited from possessing firearms due to his conviction for trafficking in marijuana in the Knox County Court of Common Pleas, on March 27, 1998. Thatcher said on Sept. 13, Deputy James Ferenbaugh, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, discovered that Dunham was allegedly in possession of a 9 mm handgun in the course of investigating threats of harm Dunham had allegedly made against a Mount Vernon woman.
Tyler A. Shaw, 19, is charged with possessing a stolen 1979 GMC truck and a stolen 1997 Dodge Neon. On July 26, Shaw allegedly drove the stolen truck into a ditch on Wooster Road and then fled on foot into the woods. He was found hiding in the bushes by Officer Jessica Butler, MVPD. On Sept. 26, Sgt. Troy Glazier, MVPD, allegedly pursued Shaw in his cruiser from the intersection of Oak Street and South Center Street until Shaw ran the Dodge Neon he was driving into the curb on East Gambier Street. Thatcher said Shaw is charged with fleeing and eluding for the second incident.
Brittney N. Smith, 19, Fredericktown, is accused of possessing stolen electronic equipment in her apartment. On Sept. 13 at about 8 p.m., Patrolman Beau Ayers, Fredericktown Police Department, discovered the allegedly stolen property when another resident of Smith’s apartment gave him permission to search the apartment in the course of a burglary investigation.
