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Does ‘Flamingo Road’ extend to Bell Co.?
by Staff Report
10 months ago | 1420 views | 11 11 comments | 6 6 recommendations | email to a friend | print
“Operation Flamingo Road”, an investigation of the Florida pill pipeline into Kentucky, is being touted by law enforcement officials as the largest drug round-up in the state’s history. Conflicting reports concerning the drug round-up were released from the different investigating agencies, leaving it unclear if Bell County was included at all.

When asked on Friday, Oct. 30, why there were no warrants issued in Bell County through this particular investigation, Kentucky State Police (KSP) Commander of Media Relations Lt. David Jude said, “It’s not that we’re not addressing or investigating the prescription drug abuse problem in Bell County, it’s just that none were connected to this [operation].”

Lt. Jude then confirmed on Tuesday that because of an error in the KSP media relations office, Bell County was mistakenly omitted from the original press release.

The KSP press release issued on Oct. 29 stated that they “obtained 327 of the 518 total arrest warrants issued in 33 counties” but did not mention arrest warrants issued in Bell County. However, KSP also released a map of eastern Kentucky with the number of arrest warrants issued printed on each county, along with a chart containing the same information. Bell County listed six warrants.

Lt. Jude said that was also a mistake. The number of warrants had been duplicated by KSP’s Drug Enforcement Branch when entered into the spreadsheet, according to Jude. The total number of warrants issued in Bell County was, instead, three individuals.

Lt. Jude said that after the mistake was discovered, the statistics were double-checked by the branch commander. He said that it is possible the mistake could have been made for other counties.

“Operation Flamingo Road” was the culmination of a three-year effort involving multiple law enforcement agencies that began with a KSP/FBI investigation focusing on individuals obtaining prescription drugs in Florida then returning to Kentucky to distribute illegally, according to KSP’s press release.

A majority of the charges were for Trafficking in Controlled Substance first and second degree, which are felony charges that include penalties ranging from 18 months to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the release.

Lt. Jude said he could not detail what charges had been issued against the three individuals in Bell County, but said they were drug-related offenses. He said that, so far, 521 warrants have been issued and 329 individuals have been arrested.

Jude predicted that the numbers would increase as more agencies “add on cases along the way.”

Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com. Managing Editor Brandy Calvert contributed to this report.
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comments (11)
« VoteForFree wrote on Wednesday, Nov 11 at 12:00 PM »
A lot depends on the voting machines as to how secret your vote is. Some have counters on the back that poll workers check before and after you vote - just to be sure the machine works, of course.

But most people willing to sell their vote don't vote on principle anyway. Its whatever name they remember best when they get in the booth. And the ones in power who run the show whether elected or not are the names they know. So what they were told - backed by a little favor - carries more weight than the qualifications of a worthy candidate.

You can't buy love but you can sure buy the courthouse. Go figure.
« Rick Garr wrote on Tuesday, Nov 10 at 09:53 AM »
But, I don't understand how it works. In a secret ballot election, how would a candidate know that the votes he bought stayed bought when the voter went into the booth? What if both candidates in a race were buying votes? Couldn't voters take money from both candidates? The ballot in Bell County is secret, is it not? This whole practice is so disgraceful, such a shameful statement about your community. Can you imagine what Abe Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt would think of politicians who buy votes? Tar and feathers probably would be recommended. I concur.
« VoteForFree wrote on Monday, Nov 09 at 12:01 PM »
Most of the vote buyers are clever. Madon just got bold - and got caught. Used to be a half-pint of whiskey was the going price. But that and cash transactions are tough to prove. You just "hire" people to work for your campaign and its legal. But I suspect the next election or two will see a reduced amount of that type of electioneering. Nothing like being one wire from the big house to get politicians - young and old - to suddenly turn honest.
« Rick Garr wrote on Monday, Nov 09 at 09:24 AM »
Selling your vote is the political equivalent of selling your body, isn't it? It's also quite an insult to the gentlemen who spent the stifling hot summer of 1776 in Philadelphia creating a country in which everyone's vote was a precious right. Selling it for a few pieces of silver seems shamefully un-American to me. Perhaps your Commonwealth Attorney should impanel a grand jury and make a serious, determined effort to eradicate vote buying from your community. I'm sure the federal prosecutors in the Madon case could provide some names of vote sellers who might talk if they received a grant of immunity. The Madons themselves might talk if someone offered reduced sentences. If I owned The Daily News, I'd offer rewards for citizens who would come forward and give sworn affidavits about selling their votes. Yes, the newspaper can get involved here -- if it has the guts.
« VoteForFree wrote on Friday, Nov 06 at 10:42 PM »
Hey, don't settle for $20 to vote. Seems like one of the other candidates was paying $50. Can't say which one. But $50 is small change compared to billboards.
« Rick Garr wrote on Friday, Nov 06 at 09:43 AM »
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but nerds can never hurt me. My original note still stands: The story was one-sided and needed some information about the Florida side of the operation. It was about like a history of the Civil War that barely mentioned the Confederacy.
« Atlas-Shrugs wrote on Thursday, Nov 05 at 06:59 PM »
Wow, Rick buddy, way to overdo it with the resume...

Don't confuse for a second that being editor of a small paper owned by the NY Times is nearly the same as being an editor at the NY Times... But I guess you meant to confuse it, right?

And that's what a community newspaper in Kentucky should be doing, making calls to police in Florida for quotes on an unrelated topic...

Maybe the Daily News will finally get that gosh-darned Pulitzer nomination?
« cja224 wrote on Thursday, Nov 05 at 03:53 PM »
That Rick Garr is a horse patoot in the wind.
« Rick Garr wrote on Thursday, Nov 05 at 02:23 PM »
Yeah, buddy, all them pointy-headed perfessers I had at the University of Ioway journalism school who gave me that there master's degree in journalism in 1968 didn't know a dadgum thang about this here news reportin'. Course not. And them four years I spent with the NY Times as a newspaper editor meant no more than a horse patoot in the wind when it comes to analyzing something in the Middlesboro Daily. And that there nomination of mine for the 1984 Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for my series of articles about Florida's Death Row, why, that had to be some kind of a bleeding heart liberal con job. Had to. Yep, ya got me, VA boy. I'm one of them city slicker impostors, for sure. But for $20 I'll voted for the Madon of your choice. How's that for reasonableness?
« VA boy wrote on Wednesday, Nov 04 at 07:51 PM »
Rick's criticism is unwarranted. He doesn't seem to understand that stories like these about a particular incident (failure at the KSP media relations office) require focus, not a graduate thesis!!!

There seems to be no reason at all why this story should quote Flor. authorities on an incident that was only about miscommunication from KSP. Maybe that would have been informative had this just been about Operation Flamingo when it happened, but not in this case.

Save your breath...
« Rick Garr wrote on Wednesday, Nov 04 at 04:25 PM »
Pretty good reporting job here, folks. However, bear in mind that it's a two-part operation, so you could have made a few calls to the South Florida authorities to see what kind of cooperation or lack thereof they are getting from your police in the Bluegrass State. You also could look in on the websites of the newspapers down here in South Florida to see what they have been reporting about the operation and events on your end. But keep up the good work and make the police do their jobs. I find it so very tragic that so many witless people in your area up their are throwing their lives away for stupid pills. It's a complete pity.
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