Teen held on meth charges at house where 2 men nabbed
Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 13, 2009
Vicksburg police returning Wednesday to the house where two men were arrested on meth charges Tuesday found two teens and charged one of them with possession of crystal methamphetamine.
The officers were responding to a possible burglary at 119 Lovers Lane around 1:30 p.m., Lt. Bobby Stewart said.
The 16-year-old who was arrested was sent to the Warren County Youth Detention Center. A 17-year-old was released to her parents.
Sherman Brewer, Jr., 28, 1208 Mallet Road, and Jimmy Cogan II, 30, 135 Hennington Road, who were arrested Tuesday, made their initial court appearances Wednesday afternoon on manufacturing crystal methamphetamine and child endangerment charges. They remained in jail afterward.
When patrolmen arrived at the home Tuesday, they found Cogan’s 4-year-old son watching TV in the living room and the active meth lab in the basement, Stewart said.
“The house had really strong fumes related to meth. I could stand in the road and smell the fumes,” Stewart said.
Patrolmen could still smell the fumes when they returned Wednesday, and Stewart said he was concerned for the child’s health.
“It takes a big toll on the respiratory system,” said Stewart.
The Vicksburg Fire Department Emergency Medical Service was called to the home to examine the child and left him in the care of a grandmother, a decision supported by the Department of Human Services, Stewart said.
The Lovers Lane house is reported to be the residence of the child’s mother, who was not at the home at the time of the arrest and faces no charges.
Vicksburg police and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics began investigating the case after receiving complaints in early July, Stewart said.
“We went over there the first of July on a ride through. Two weeks ago, we tried to make contact with the resident but couldn’t smell anything,” he said.
One neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said he was “mad” and “disgusted” at the thought of drugs in the neighborhood. He said he moved to Vicksburg seven months ago to escape the drug problem in New Orleans. “It seemed like the community was peaceful,” he said.
Records show Brewer was on parole for a March 24, 2006, conviction. He had been sentenced to serve 10 years at the Mississippi Department of Corrections, which was suspended to one year of house arrest followed by five years of probation.
Brewer was accused again of manufacturing meth Jan. 11 and indicted by a grand jury for manufacturing a controlled substance in May. An arrest warrant was issued at that time, but he had not been arrested, records showed.
Cogan was convicted of possession of meth on May 22, 2003, and sentenced to serve three years. His sentence was suspended and he was assigned probation for five years. That probation was revoked June 11, 2004, and he was placed on one-year house arrest because he had falsified a urine screen, according to an affidavit by his probation officer.
On June 1, 2007, the probation was revoked again, and he was assigned to the 9th Circuit Drug Court after testing positive for cocaine, according to another affidavit by his probation officer.
His probation was revoked a third time on Jan. 18, 2008, and he was sentenced to serve the original three years after he failed to abstain from illegal drugs, a third affidavit shows. Warren County District Attorney Ricky Smith said Cogan would have been eligible for release after eight months, or 25 percent, of the sentence.
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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com