Published: August 20, 2008 11:22 am         

Duo faces list of drug charges

A Pauls Valley mother-daughter duo are now facing multiple allegations after authorities searching their local home claimed to have found a big-time illegal drug operation.

Four felony counts have been filed in Garvin County District Court against both Misty Michelle Casey, 34, and her mother, Brenda K. Ellett, 54.

The two women and Casey’s four children ranging in age from 1-year-old to 16 share a residence in the 800 block of East Charles.

It was that house that a slew of county deputies searched last weekend after first acquiring a judge-approved warrant.

Among the items discovered were a number of small bags containing what totaled up to more than 100 grams of methamphetamine “ice,” which officers described as being about a quarter pound.

“This was one of the bigger ones we’ve had in this county that I can think of based on a search warrant,” said Lt. Travis Crawford of the county Sheriff’s Department.

“Typically we only get a gram or maybe a few grams,” he said about many drug busts.

“Most of the distributors know that trafficking is over 20 grams. So they typically try to keep it under that amount.”

Tips and information from “concerned citizens,” along with actual surveillance, led deputies to believe that plenty of illegal drug activity was going on inside the local residence.

A filed affidavit shows all information received by deputies pointed toward Casey having a large amount of meth and “fronting” amounts of the illegal drug to other individuals, which means no initial payments were being made during the exchanges.

When the search began officers gathered together in one room both suspects and all of Casey’s children.

At one point a container was found with several items inside, including digital scales and an undisclosed number of small bags.

The meth contained in the bags added to over 100 grams of the drug, Crawford said.

During the search deputies also came across a TV monitor that displayed an exterior shot of the home’s front side. Officials said it was part of a surveillance system that included cameras and a police scanner tuned to the frequency of the Garvin County Sheriff’s Department.

Ellett, who was initially released, was formally charged later despite her claim to know nothing of the meth. Her release the second time came with the posting of a $50,000 bond.

Prosecutors asked for a $500,000 bond on Casey, who instead received and posted a $30,000 bond based on a medical condition she is suffering from.

     

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