State-Journal.com - Most top crime stories drug-related

The city experienced several high-profile crimes this year, several of which were drug-related, including two cases of manslaughter by individuals under the influence of drugs.

$2 million pot bust

>A Franklin County father and son were arrested after authorities intercepted $2 million worth of marijuana en route to their home in March.

Randy D. Kendell, 49, 6505 Flat Creek Road, was arrested without incident at his home in connection to the sting.

His son, Randy Kendell Jr., 29, was also arrested in connection to the raid.
The marijuana, which arrived in the U. S. from Mexico at the Port of Charleston, S.C., was intercepted as a result of a joint investigation between Kentucky State Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the DEA.

Their charges are still pending in Franklin Circuit Court.

Developer's drug-related arrest

>Local real estate developer Ricky Layne Wentworth, 42, 5590 Bald Knob Road, made headlines with his Oct. 16 drug-related arrest after allegedly arranging to buy $19,000 worth of cocaine at a Lexington Holliday Inn.

Charges against Wentworth were dropped at the state level so his case could be brought before a federal grand jury, Fayette County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Cindy Reiker told The State Journal.

Kentucky State Police also arrested 15 Franklin County residents on drug trafficking charges in a "Fall Harvest" drug roundup Oct. 28.

Police said most of the charges involved lortab, morphine, oxycontin, xanax and hydrocodone.

Most of the 15 arrested now have pending indictments in Franklin Circuit Court.

High trucker kills woman

>An Alabama truck driver was sentenced to 20 years in jail on manslaughter and drug charges for the death of a Frankfort woman.

Leslye M. Robertson, 41, was killed when Paul Neto, 46, of Decatur, Ala., was high on marijuana and methamphetamines and the truck he was driving slammed into her Toyota van in January.

Robertson's uncle, minister Dwight Parker, who conducted her funeral services, said in court at Neto's Oct. 24 sentencing, "One hundred life sentences couldn't bring her back to us."

Man survives shooting

>A Frankfort man survived after he was gunned down in South Frankfort in June, shot three times in the torso.

Charles C. Randle, 43, was found lying in the middle of East Third Street, near the corner of Murray Street, with three gunshot wounds.

Police and prosecutors initially accused William Brewer, 20, formerly of 625 Logan St., of shooting Randle. Brewer was indicted on assault and gun charges, though he was ultimately acquitted.

Woman gets 12 years for baby's death

>A Frankfort woman was sentenced in December for the 2006 crack-related death of her infant daughter.

Jaimie Lynn Jockers, 25, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on manslaughter and drug charges after her baby, Brooklyn Paige, died with crack-cocaine in her system.

Jockers said at the time of her sentencing she and Michael McIntyre, Brooklyn Paige's father, smoked crack in March 2006. They returned to their residence and she fell asleep in a bedroom, Jockers said.

McIntyre slept downstairs on a couch with Brooklyn Paige.

She said she found the baby on the couch the next morning, dead.

McIntyre, 22, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on manslaughter and other drug charges.

Police impersonators get caught

>Two men who impersonated police to rob an elderly man of $12,000 earned 20-year jail terms for the April holdup of John Wilson, 75.

Timothy Hall, 39, and Earl Way Wright, 57, borrowed a Mercury Grand Marquis from Paul Miller Ford because of its similar look to a police cruiser and impersonated detectives serving a search warrant at Wilson's home.

The two robbed Wilson at gunpoint while his young grandchildren were present.

Hall and Wright accepted an October plea deal that reduced their robbery and burglary charges from first to second-degree offenses.

Trucker gunned down

>Frankfort truck-driver William Scott Miller, 42, of Waverly Lane, was shot to death behind the wheel of the truck he was driving on a Dallas highway Dec. 22.

Miller was on his way home to Frankfort for Christmas after delivering a shipment when he was gunned down with a high-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Dallas police named former Utah state trooper Brian Smith, 37, as the prime suspect in Miller's death and the killing of a Texas man minutes before " both in rush hour traffic.

Smith died hours after Miller was killed of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after a six-hour standoff with Texas authorities.