More drugs and money seized in string of drug busts in eastern Greene County
Another individual was arrested and charged when officers from the Greene County Drug Task Force, the Indiana State Police, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, Linton Police Department and Jasonville Police Department showed up a residence in eastern Greene County in a recent string of drug busts that have dealt a blow to a stream of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin into the county.
Traci Lynn Lawrence, 51, formerly of Coarsegold, Calif., now of rural Bloomfield, was arrested by Chief Ryan Van Horn of the Jasonville Police Department and the Greene County Drug Task Force on Thursday night, May 27.
On that Thursday, a search warrant had been issued for a residence and property located at 12986 Shady Meadows in the Solsberry/rural Bloomfield area. That night, officers from the Greene County Drug Task Force, the Indiana State Police, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, Linton Police Department and Jasonville Police Department arrived at the property to execute the warrant.
When they arrived, they were met at the door by Traci Lawrence who was immediately detained. She was the only person present at the residence.
When Chief Van Horn interviewed Lawrence on the scene that night, she said she’d been living at the Shady Meadows address since December, and that the residents, Gregory Johnson and Shana Johnson, let her stay there because her boyfriend, Christopher Wrought, stays there while he works on his house in Lawrence Hollow. She said she met Wrought in California and they had been on and off again boyfriend and girlfriend for about 14 years. She also said she was there while waiting for Wrought to get back from California. When asked if officers would find controlled substances in the residence, Lawrence allegedly said, “I’m sure.”
Van Horn reported that in the bedroom area belonging to Lawrence and Wrought, officers found a glass smoking pipe with a residue that tested positive as methamphetamine.
In the bedroom area belonging to the Johnsons, officers found digital scales and a black safe containing a Glock 43 handgun, a silver Taurus handgun, a Glock 21 handgun and a plastic zip bag containing a substance that field-tested positive as methamphetamine weighing around 10 grams. The safe also contained two more plastic zip bags, both with a white crystal substance, a syringe, and $3,700 cash. In addition, they located six Fentanyl pouches and a black wallet with two state identification cards for Gregory Johnson. Items of evidence were seized.
Lawrence was transported to the Greene County Jail where she was booked in at 8:09 p.m. and held without bond pending court appearance.
When Lawrence appeared in Greene Superior Court for her initial hearing, she was formally charged with:
Possession of methamphetamine, a Level 6 felony, and
Possession of paraphernalia, a Class misdemeanor.
During the hearing, a public defender was appointed to represent her and her bond was set at $4,500 surety only. As of Friday, June 11, she has not posted bond and she remains in custody.
An earlier story posted on GreeneStreets about the arrest of Fay Russell Jr is connected to this story. During the search of a property in Lawrence Hollow and arrest of Russell, officers seized over 1,000 grams of methamphetamine and quantities of cocaine and heroin. Find it by clicking the Tag “Fay Russell Jr” below this story. Yet another story in this series is still to come.