Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - OUTRAGE! ARMED METH HEAD BURGLARIZES OLD COUPLE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, GETS $1 BOND PER COUNT TO WALK FREE!

Episode Date: July 30, 2019

A repeat offender meth head is out on bond after he and an accomplice broke into an elderly couple's home, in broad daylight. He was arrested again but a judge set his bond at just $2, and now he's back on the streets. Joining Nancy Grace to discuss the whys of this outrage is Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith, Judge Ashley Wilcott, Attorney Jason Oshins, Forensics Expert Karen Smith, and Psychologist Caryn Stark. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Franklin County man out of jail. Sheriff's officials say on June 6th, John Dean was out of jail on pre-trial release when he broke into an elderly couple's home in the middle of the day while they were in it. He was charged with burglary and larceny, and according to the sheriff's office, Dean's bond was set at $2. Now Sheriff A.J. Smith wants locals to know it's not his choice for Dean to be back on the streets.

Sheriff Smith says there is now extra patrol around the couple's home. We reached out to Florida's second judicial court and were told under the code of judicial conduct, the judge cannot make a public statement about any pending or impending case. He doesn't have to make a public statement. Granting this guy a $2 bond, which means all he has to put up is 10% of that. What is that, 20 cents to get out of jail? I don't need the judge, who, by the way, is named Circuit Judge Martin Fitzpatrick, out of the Leon County jurisdiction in Florida. He doesn't have to say a thing because that bond says it all to me.

And let me tell you something, Judge Martin Fitzpatrick. I got an 87-year-old mother, soon to be 88, who was often at home where she lives with me by herself. And the last thing I want my mother to see is this jackass putting his foot through her bedroom window in the middle of the day. You know what? You would let it out on Bond Fitzpatrick. You bring him home to your house with your wife and your family. Don't set him loose out in the public with me. Don't. But you did, didn't you? And now you're all wrapped up in judicial pomposity saying you can't give a statement. Well, you know what? Your bond speaks for itself.

You know what? Keep the $2. Just keep it, Judge. Because, God willing, you're going to need it when you're off the bench. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. You know, every day I think I've seen it all.

Till right now. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. You know, every day I think I've seen it all. Till right now. I want to go out to DaveMatt, CrimeOnline.com, investigative reporter, joining me. You know what? I'm looking at this guy. I don't even know what to call him. He looks stoned in his mugshot to me. This John Dean, and certainly not the John Dean of the Watergate fame. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is saying it's not on them. They arrested the guy, put him in jail, and then this judge

comes along, lets him out with a two dollar bond. And this is what I'm learning. And I want to make sure if you know anything about it, that this guy has already been in jail once on suspicion of methamphetamine you know if you're a meth head you don't know what you're doing you just as well um shoot and rape somebody you don't even know what happened you wake up and go what what i mean this guy is a meth head okay hit me dave mac what happened john dean actually Nancy, when you were talking about how he looked kind of stoned in his pictures and things. Wait a minute. John Dean is a guy who actually has a run-in with the law on a fairly regular basis. He was actually out on pretrial release on another crime when he committed this crime, okay?

Okay, stop, stop, stop. Let me just take it in. Let me just take it in. Let me just take that in. He's already out on bond or you say pre-trial release, which is bond or no bond. And he breaks into this elderly couple's home in the middle of the day. Guys, joining me in about one minute is the elected sheriff A.J. Smith in Franklin County, Florida. Now, he's a gentleman. He's not going to attack the judge. You know what? I'll be the attacker here. He doesn't have to. I'll do that for him. He's too much of a gentleman. You know, Dave Mack, I'm just sick. I didn't know this guy was already on bond when he broke into this old couple's house.

That's the part that actually bothered me more than anything else, Nancy. He was out on a $1,000 bond after he was busted a month and a half earlier than this at a drug house and is bonded out on a thousand dollars bond when he decides to break into an elderly couple's home in the middle of the day. The shocking part about all that is that he's out on bond at the time that crime takes place when he shows up in front of the judge again. And the judge has all this in front of him going, okay, this guy's a druggie. He's breaking into another home while he's out on bond. Here's the thing. According to documents that we've gotten from the FCSO, the sheriff's office, this guy, John Dean, has been arrested for meth in the past

and was most recently arrested for meth after attending rehab, which means he's got more than one meth incident. And I guarantee the state paid for him to go to rehab. That's me and you paid for his rehab. And now he's breaking into this couple's home. Now here's the thing, Ashley Wilcott, a judge, trial lawyer, you can find her at ashywilcott.com. Here's the thing about meth. I'm telling you, I think it's as bad as heroin, cocaine, easily, easily as bad, if not worse. One hit of meth and it's over. Have you ever seen those pictures where the person's young, youthful, attractive, vibrant, and at the end of just like one or two years, they're covered in sores on their face.

They look like they're about 70 years old. I do trainings with those pictures, and I train eighth graders. I talk to eighth graders around the state about meth. One hit and you're addicted. Yes, that's what it makes them look like, but it makes people out of their mind. It can keep them up for three, four, five days on end and they are out of their mind. It is one of the scariest, most addictive drugs to me. And I think it's the scourge of where we are with our drug use in America. And the thing about it is a meth head will do anything for meth and he could bludge this old couple in the head, eat out of their fridge and walk out in an hour, not remember one bit of it. Okay, hold on, stop everything. Joining me right now out of Franklin

County, Florida is Sheriff A.J. Smith, the elected sheriff in that jurisdiction. Now, as I was saying, Sheriff, before you joined us, number one, welcome. Number two, you're too much of a gentleman to trash the judge, but I'm okay with that. I got a long history of trashing judges, especially when they deserve it. So, Sheriff A.J. Smith, just tell me, to your knowledge, what happened? We'll leave the judge out of this for now. Well, what happened was John Dean and a co-defendant were arrested for the burglary. And that was a Friday afternoon.

We arrested them. They went to jail. Within 24 hours, of course, they were entitled to a first appearance, which they received by an on-call judge. And as you said previously, he was on pretrial release, which means he'd gotten in trouble and he was released with certain conditions. But, of course, he didn't abide by those conditions. He committed another crime. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Wait a minute, judges.

Excuse me. Wait a minute, Sheriff. It's easier for me to interrupt a sheriff when I'm long distance and not in the same room with them. But, Sheriff, just hold on a minute. What you know about meth heads and what I know about meth addicts, did you just say that they released him on conditions like a meth addict is going to follow conditions? They're completely out of their mind. Well, you know, you and I know that, but apparently some of our judges don't realize that yet. And of course, there's another thing that falls into this equation. There was a federal court judge who issued a ruling that said, and that applied to the circuit court judges in our circuit that said that no one should be held on bond or they should be.

The basis of this order was you can't hold somebody on bond more than what they can afford, which is almost an oxymoron. Well, then why even have bond? That's the whole point. You don't want them out. Right. But I think also that part of that order said that if they were a danger to the community, then those rules don't apply. And of course, this guy, when you're breaking someone's home, that's one of the most serious things you can do. And they are a danger to the community. And this person, no doubt, is a danger to our community and this person no doubt is a danger to our community and now he is back in our community and you know so we're certainly not happy about that the community's not happy about it and you know a lot of people think the sheriff is the one that well let me ask you a question everybody's everybody's all unhappy well who elected the judge yeah the circuit does yeah

people from the sixth county yeah okay so the, the people that are all mad about this guy, they're the one that elected Judge Martin Fitzpatrick? Correct. You know, that really weighed heavy on me, Sheriff, when I was prosecuting because, as you know, I'm a victim of gun violence. My fiancé was murdered right before our wedding. And every time I'd take a plea or I'd agree to a bond, which was rare, I'd think, you know what, if I go along with this,

what if this guy gets out and shoots somebody, it's going to all be on me. But apparently this judge wasn't concerned. Judge Martin Fitzpatrick, listen. John Dean was out of jail on pre-trial release when he broke into an elderly couple's home in the middle of the day while they were in it. He was charged with burglary and larceny and according to the sheriff's office, Dean's bond was set at two dollars. Now Sheriff A.J. Smith wants locals to know it's not his choice for Dean to be back on the streets. The bond should should be suitable for that to keep that person in jail because they're a danger. They're a danger to our community.

If somebody breaks into your home while you're there, it's bad. And those kinds of people should be held at a high bond until the case is resolved. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. John Dean was out of jail on pre-trial release when he broke into an elderly couple's home in the middle of the day while they were in it. He was charged with burglary and larceny, and according to the sheriff's office, Dean's bond was set at two dollars. Now Sheriff A.J. Smith wants locals to know it's not his choice for Dean to be back on the streets. The bond should be suitable for that to keep that person in jail because they're a danger. They're a danger to our community. If somebody breaks into your home while you're there, it's bad.

And those kinds of people should be held at a high bond until the case is resolved. You are hearing WGHG-TV anchor Nisa Wilkins, and you're also hearing the elected sheriff, A.J. Smith, there in Franklin County speaking, and the sheriff is with us. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us out on a $2 bond. Okay, Jackie Howard here in the studio, her head is spinning around. What's your question? Isn't the whole point of giving somebody a high bond is because you know they can't afford to keep their money in jail? Well, you know what? That's what I always thought, Jason Ocean. She's

saying isn't the reason you give a high bond is because you know they can't make it, right? Jason Ocean is joining me, criminal defense attorney out of New York, New Jersey. Go ahead, Jason. Well, I was going to say, Nancy, we all know that at least from the Supreme Court, the bond is to ensure that you return to court. So at least just on the record, this guy was out on pretrial release. When he got arrested, that pretrial release was revoked and he had to appear back on that charge. So when this judge here put the $2 bond on, he was going back to jail based on the revocation of the previous pretrial release for the drug paraphernalia since he is- I don't even know what you're saying. Can you speak you know what this is not a law school tutorial can you just break it down jason you just lost your jury

include me i'm asleep what you know that's that's a good job of a defense attorney i got you spelled out so put the jury to sleep i know i don't know i think like sleepy he didn't, oh, wow, he did not get released on the $2 bond directly. He was granted a $2 bond. He was. And isn't it true, when you're granted a bond, you really only have to put up 10% of it. Right, but he went back. You know that's right, Jason. That's 20 cents. He went back to jail.

His pretrial release was revoked on the drug paraphernalia, and then the judge sentenced him to time served on the 35 days that he was in. Once that was done, he went out on the $2 fine. And time served. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Hold on. Wait, wait, Sheriff. What is time served?

Well, I mean, Jason is telling it like it is, but I think what the judge— Well, I'm glad you could understand him. Well, what he should have taken into consideration was that another judge was going to hear the pretrial release violation. It's kind of two separate things. And that would be resolved quickly, which to me, he went back before the judge within 30 days, which is kind of normal for here. And then that was resolved. And then all he had was $2 to get out of jail and he had two dollars in his pocket and he put it up and he walked out the door and that to me is what should have been

taken into consideration thank you for clarifying that two dollars he walked out the door i mean to me sheriff smith uh aj smith with me out of franklin, Florida. You say the system is broken and I could not agree more. Hold on, Sheriff. I've got a psychologist joining me out of New York right now, Karen Stark. Karen, what does this say to the family? I mean, think about it, Karen. Your mom that you have been taking care of for so long. She's the most precious thing in the world to you, just like my mom.

We talk about it all the time, our moms. Think about your mom being at home one day by herself and this meth-head freak, John Dean, poking his foot through the kitchen window. And by the way, I think he was armed. I think he was armed, by the way. He was armed, Jackie's saying. Yes, he was armed. Armed.

Now, what if your mother had unwittingly walked into the kitchen and she got shot dead by somebody that doesn't even know what he's doing? What does it say to those victims, Karen? A $2 bond. She doesn't even have to be shot dead, Nancy. As we talk about our mothers, and my mother's 93, I mean, just the idea that someone would break in could cause her to have a heart attack or suffer a stroke. I mean, this is such an outrageous story, that he is addicted to meth, and he broke into a home

even though he was he had already been you know called to task for what he had done and he has the nerve to do that I'm sure he didn't know what he was doing and then he's let out on two dollars

to go and hurt another elderly person or break into somebody else's home and frighten them. Well Karen are you sitting down right now? Are you sitting down? Yes Nancy I am. Okay I think you better lay down for this. Ashley Wolcott you have your beautiful children you have parents still living imagine this imagine this Ashley Wilcott this freak coming in your home your lovely home one perp has a gun and one perp has a knife and it's in broad daylight see I don't worry as much if I leave my mom home in the middle of the day with the doors locked. I don't think that as much about it as leaving her at night. This is in broad daylight, Ashley.

It scares me to death. And I have told my husband and, you know, my husband, Nancy, he's six, seven. He played college football. He's a big man. I have said to him, if anyone ever broke into our home, even when we were gone, I would move because I would no longer feel safe. Can you imagine? And then it happens in broad daylight while they're home. My mother lives with me. I cannot even imagine the fear I would have moving forward. And then to know that the perpetrator is out on bond or the alleged perpetrator, honestly, it makes me want to throw up.

Sheriff A.J. Smith out of Franklin County joining me. Sheriff, I want to hear from you. I want to hear it from the horse's mouth. Tell me what more our listeners need to know. Well, here's what I think everybody, with the exception of your defense attorney in New York, which I don't know what he's had. What his problem is? No, no, no. I've been trying to figure out what Jason Ocean's problem is since about 1997.

I still haven't figured it out. Well, no, I mean, I don't know what his exposure to the meth epidemic has been. But in the rural counties in Florida, we are seeing a meth epidemic. And I've been doing this 40 years, and I've never seen a drug, just like what y'all are saying, as horrific as meth, what it does to people, to families, to our community. Guys, I want to tell you about something very important to me. I hope you can join me this Saturday, 6 o'clock Eastern, 5 Central, on Oxygen for Injustice with Nancy Grace. I think about this woman so often, Michelle Mockbee. She got up super early one morning, got her coffee in her car, checked on her two little girls, and headed off to work early. She wanted to take a few days off at the end of

the week to spend time with her children and her husband. So she goes to work, this big, huge, sprawling laboratory and processing center, Thermo Fisher. She was head of HR. She never saw her children alive again. She was brutally murdered at work, The perp dragging her body, leaving a trail of blood from her office. Who in that sprawling lab had an ex to grind with mom, Michelle Mottby? Who sentenced her little girls to life without a mom? We reinvestigate the case, shining the lights on what really happened. Please join us Saturday, Oxygen, 6 o'clock Eastern, 5 Central, in the case of the murder of mom Michelle Mockbee. We want justice. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us out on a $2 bond. Sheriff A.J. Smith out of Franklin County joining

me. Sheriff, I want to hear from you. I want to hear it from the horse's mouth. Tell me what more our listeners need to know. Well, here's what I think everybody, with the exception of your defense attorney in New York, which I don't know what his, what he's had, what his, what his problem is. I've been trying to figure out what Jason Ocean's problem is since about 1997. I still haven't figured it out. I mean, I don't know what his exposure to the meth epidemic has been, but in the rural counties in Florida, we are seeing a meth epidemic. And I've been doing this 40 years, and I've never seen a drug,

just like what y'all are saying, as horrific as meth, what it does to people, to families, to our community. So we've looked at a lot of different things that the sheriff's office can do. We have a slogan we go by, rehabilitation or incarceration, take your pick. And we have some people that come in and some people that don't. But here's the thing, just about everybody I have in my jail is there as a result, directly or indirectly, of drugs. And what I would like for you to emphasize and for people to get from this story, not only was it a $2 bond, which was ridiculous, but that all these people that we arrest every day,

or whether it's stealing a car or smoking meth or whatever it is, it is drug-related. And the judges that are seeing them for first appearance and to answer for their charges, there has to be more sanctions put on. There has to be some kind of mental health. There has to be some kind of rehabilitation component forced on these people because they're not going to do it otherwise.

We see a cycle. It's over and over and over the same people. And what we're doing is not working. What these judges are doing, okay, I had one I arrested the other day. I walked into a shed. He was sitting there smoking meth. The guy pulled a knife on me. He got a $14,000 bond, which I thought was ridiculous, again, and he was out three days later. So with no other sanctions except to have an ankle monitor. So why not put some kind of mental health evaluation, some kind of rehabilitation while they're awaiting to go to trial? Because all the judges know that most of these people, they can look at them or they

could ask them, when's the last time you smoked meth or shot up meth or snorted meth? But that's not happening. And we got to have a new way of doing things if we're going to make our communities healthy again and stop this epidemic. Guys, you are hearing from Sheriff A.J. Smith, the elected sheriff in Franklin County, Florida. And I have to agree, to my knowledge right now, except maybe heroin, there's not anything as addictive or in my mind more dangerous than methamphetamine i mean people are blowing up their houses cooking it they will steal they

will rob they will murder and not really even remember you kind of turn into a zombie on this stuff and it's immediately addictive two things one we got to educate our kids and give them an outlet they got to you know uh creative outlets things that interest them more than drugs you know one of the things i'd like to do is have a performing arts center here in our small county where kids could learn music dance they could make their own videos they could learn things that they have an interest in you know everybody can't be a football player or a baseball player or a basketball player. So we got to have other things for them. We got to have education about anti-drugs and we got to start teaching our kids at an early age because we got four generations of drug addicts and we got to break the cycle,

but we also got to give the ones that are addicted the opportunity to come and clean up if they want to. What's disturbing right now in addition to the meth problem that Sheriff addicted the opportunity to come and clean up if they want to. What's disturbing right now, in addition to the meth problem that Sheriff A.J. Smith out of Franklin County, Florida, is talking about, is that a previously well-respected judge, Judge Martin Fitzpatrick, granted a $2 bond to a guy addicted to meth, previous meth arrests, after he breaks in armed with a co-defendant one with a gun one with a knife into an elderly couple's home there in florida in the middle of the day they're on a remote i wouldn't say a remote area but sheriff. Smith, is it a residential area? Describe the area where he broke in. It is. It's a residential area. It's a residential area in the middle of our county. I mean, we are a rural county, but it's in an unincorporated area, but it's strictly residential

and, you know, fairly populated for us. It's a community called East Point. Now, I've been taking a look at your probable cause affidavit. Dean was identified by Mr. Ball, an elderly East Point resident, as being the man with another guy who burglarized his North Bay Shore drive home earlier that day. So the senior male identified them. The old man tried to chase them.

Yeah, he did. Poor old guy. That reminds me of my dad so much. The cops apparently found a book bag left on the bedroom floor with a knife, which led to the armed burglary charge. Correct. I mean, what is, is the judge making any comment about this at all? No, there's, there's, there's no comment about it. And like we, you know, like you previously stated, I just, I want the community to know that my job is to bring them before the courts and that's what I do. And, and we all have

to work together. But again, this meth epidemic is so out of control that we got to all be working together. And I think if you're not exposed to it on a daily basis like a lot of the folks in the judicial system are not they don't realize what what it's doing to our community and that's what i want to bring awareness to hey we have a problem well sheriff i rarely disagree with a sheriff but i got to disagree with you on that because how can you be a sitting judge and not know about the meth epidemic because you see meth heads and what they do they're out of their minds it's almost to where they're not really to blame but yet they are because they're so at they're like zombies okay here's the thing it's about making our communities healthy again drug addiction and mental health go hand in hand and they are making our communities unhealthy if we can get these people

off drugs make our communities healthier we make our families whole we make our communities a better place to live that's what i'm telling people so everybody get involved and so the community is they are they are with me on that and i'm gonna that's what i'm long as i'm sheriff that's what i'm gonna keep doing if you don't want to get clean but you're going to commit crimes and we're going to aggressively work to put you in jail and get you off the street so that you're not stealing from somebody or breaking in their house or burning their car or you know committing battery or sexual battery or all these crimes that go along with the drug. You know, they say drugs are a victimless crime. That's a bunch of BS.

I got a question for you, Sheriff. How does this make your people, your men and women in uniform feel when they go to all this effort? They go to a crime scene. You never know what's going to happen to you at a crime scene. You don't know if somebody's armed in there waiting for you to walk in the door. They go. They put their life on the line. They go to this home. They investigate. They find the perp.

They arrest the perp. They do great work. They put him in jail, and then he gets out on a – it's really a $1 bond on each count. Yeah, it certainly does not make the deputies feel good because just like you said, they are putting their life on the line. And like I told you earlier, I walked in on one just last week who was actually smoking a meth pipe. And of course, just like you said, again, they're out of their head. They're not thinking rational. They're going to do things they wouldn't normally do. Their emotions are high. And yeah, so you you like to know that when you catch these people,

especially when most of them are repeat offenders, and each time we have to catch them again, it's harder because they get shrewder, they get smarter, and it's hard. And like I said, just about everybody I have in jail are repeat offenders. They've been before judges before. It's not their first rodeo. They know. And so we've got to have a better way of doing things.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. These days, $2 might not get you too far, but recently $2 did bind a Franklin County man out of jail. Sheriff's officials say on June 6, John Dean was out of jail on pre-trial release when he broke into an elderly couple's home in the middle of the day while they were in it. He was charged with burglary and larceny and according to the sheriff's office, Dean's bond was set at two dollars. Now Sheriff A.J. Smith wants locals to know it's not his choice for Dean to be back on the streets. Sheriff Smith says there is now extra patrol around the

couple's home. We reached out to Florida's second judicial court and were told under the code of judicial conduct, the judge cannot make a public statement about any pending or impending case. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. A two dollar bond to a guy addicted to meth, previous meth arrests, after he breaks in armed with a co-defendant, one with a gun, one with a knife, into an elderly couple's home there in Florida in the middle of the day. Jason Oceans, I'm going to go out on a limb

and risk it and go to you again. Hope you're not mad at me. But Jason, we know this guy's already had state funded rehab and I would try everything as a prosecutor. If I thought somebody was an addict, you know, I'd give him probation and treatment, free treatment to start with and community service. If that didn't work, then I'd put him in a lockdown rehab paid for by the state. Then after that, jail. But once a gun appears or once a victim is at jeopardy, it's all over.

You go to jail. I mean, what more can we do, Jason? I mean, he's had rehab. He's had probation. What more can we do? No, I just want to say, and I hear you, Nancy. I want to say the sheriff is, you know, practicing over 20 years. Okay, see, wait, right there, right there, when somebody starts off with, I hear you.

Now, see, that's always followed by a but. I hear you, but, okay, what's the but? Well, this is akin back to the early 90s with the crack is whack and, you know, how devastating that was and crime rates rose until we, you know, sought a way to deal with it. And, you know, social justice, as the sheriff is talking about, having more, you know, investment and resource to deal with this vicious, you know, epidemic, meth, opioids, all of it, you know, but those are balances of choice that, you know, governments and municipalities make. You've got to invest in those. And I feel the sheriff's anguish in trying to deal with it. Sounds like a very compassionate man who's trying to do his job with his officers and at the same time deal with the reality of such a scourge to his community. It's a conundrum, Nancy, you know, and there's no easy balance. Okay, so what you're saying to me, Jason, is that we need to pump more money into the system for rehab and treatment.

Okay, see, I thought that too. Back in, let's see, when did I start prosecuting? Oh, 1987. And I thought, oh, I'll send these people to rehab. I'll help them, and they won't commit another crime. Guess what? All the rehabs are full. No, I know that, Nancy.

All the beds are taken. People would have to. And politicians are not going to pay any more money. They're not going to do it, even though that's what they need to do. It ain't going to happen. They're not giving any more money. And I'm hearing Sheriff Smith, this system is broken. So Sheriff, what do you propose? Well, you know, Nancy, one of the things

that I am working on here, probably the first, I don't know of any other sheriff in the country that's running a rehab center, but that's what I'm on the cusp of trying to get open here and it'll be open to anybody anywhere it'll be free and i know that's kind of a big step for for a sheriff but we have such an epidemic here that we have to find a solution and nobody else seems to have a solution so this is what I'm I have a facility here and the county commissioners have agreed to give it to me it's got to be rehabbed I got to raise money private donors I got to go to department of justice that has grants I'm going to the state to maybe get a legislative appropriation we have there's oil spill money left over called the Triumph Fund from the oil spill years back. And so I'm going to go to all these different resources and see what I can get.

But that's where we are. But we're going to continue. People that don't want to change their lives, they want to continue to use meth, we're going to aggressively arrest them. We're going to stay on them. We're getting ready. We do drug roundups where these people, just like the meth house you were talking about where we got John Dean, 10 people living there. It's nothing but a sore spot in a good neighborhood and so we're going to continue to aggressively seek out these people that are selling meth and using meth and and lock them up well sheriff is there any way that you can have is there any way i've been in so many crack houses looking for

witnesses and guys when we say meth house or crack house i can't believe i was there sometimes without even an investigator with me. I mean, it looks abandoned. The furniture's all burned up. The sofa's turned upside down. There are burn holes in the carpet. It's filthy. Same deal. There's needles everywhere, urine. It's just, just, it really needs to be condemned if it's a meth house. But I'm just thinking about how the victims in this case feel, how the sheriffs that work the case feel. I mean, what are they supposed to do, go out and try it again the next day, know when the guy's going to get a $2 bond? And what's going to happen to Sheriff Smith when he doesn't show up for court?

What's going to happen then? Yeah, they're going to have to take resources and go out and look for him again. I mean, that's what, you know, we're a small agency, so when I have to go out and chase down people who don't show up in court, it takes people away from doing their other core functions, which is fighting this meth epidemic. So, yeah, it hinders it. Well, Sheriff, I surely admire you.

I admire your effort to start the treatment program, So, yeah, it hinders us. Well, Sheriff, I surely admire you. I admire your effort to start the treatment program. And if we can help in any way, I'm all behind it. But I really would like people to get rehabbed behind bars because innocent victims like this family, the poor old senior trying to chase this guy out of his house, meth head. I don't want my mom in that position. So while you're rehabbing all the meth heads, could you please just keep them in lockdown? My campaign that we started a couple years ago is rehabilitation or incarceration. If you don't want help, then we're going to lock you up because you're a minister to our society. You're committing crimes. I mean, just like today,

we're running around trying to find some people that burglarized the house, took guns, and then stole the car and set it on fire. So that's what we've been working on today. And we know it's people that are involved in drugs have done this. And so if they're not going to do right, then they need to be locked up, bottom line. And the judge has got to help us. We'll just see what Judge Martin Fitzpatrick has to say about this, although I guarantee you he'll remain quiet and get reelected and go out and have a steak dinner. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.