Jonesboro, Ill. couple face drug charges

JONESBORO, Ill. -- Police arrested a Jonesboro couple on meth charges Monday after an undercover operation that lasted several months.

Troy Smith, 34, and Diane Smith, 31, of Jonesboro were arrested at about 4:30 p.m. Monday. Officers also took two other people into custody, but they were later released.

The Smiths have been charged with five counts each of unlawful delivery and possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. Charges of unlawful delivery were upgraded to Class 1 felonies because the alleged sales took place within 1,000 feet of a church or school.

Union County, Ill., state's attorney Allen James said the Smiths allegedly were importing and selling a pure form of the drug from other areas.

"We don't even know if they were using it," James said. "It looked like just an old fashioned drug deal, like you would have with cocaine or marijuana brought in from somewhere else."

A drug task force called the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group had been investigating the Smiths for several months, and undercover officers had purchased methamphetamine from them on five different occasions, James said. Police had not planned to arrest the Smiths until learning the names of their methamphetamine suppliers, but James said fear for the undercover officers' safety led police to make the arrests on Monday.

After the arrests, police searched two businesses owned by the Smiths and their relatives: Good Old Boys Automotive and a clothing store on the Jonesboro square that was formerly the Iron Skillet restaurant. James said undercover officers had purchased meth in the garage of the automotive shop, and the Smiths lived with two of their children in the back of the clothing store.

In the automotive shop, officers found drug paraphernalia and unidentified substances James said are being analyzed. In the clothing store, police found about a half gram of crystal methamphetamine, he said.

James said Troy Smith owned the two businesses with his brothers and father, but police have not found anything to indicate any relatives were involved.

Last week, Troy Smith filed a federal lawsuit against the Jonesboro and Anna, Ill., police departments and the Union County Sheriff's Department related to an incident that took place in June 2004 in which he and his brother, Bobby Smith, were arrested on charges of aggravated battery of a police officer, resisting arrest and mob action. Both pleaded guilty to resisting arrest.

James said the Smith family has alleged that Monday's arrests were in retaliation for the lawsuit. But he said police were already investigating Troy and Diane Smith before the suit was filed.

wmcferron@semissourian.com

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