Details surrounding several arrests made last month in Henry County are surfacing now that a full investigation has been conducted. According to the county sheriff’s office, four homes were searched and arrests were made on March 5th in connection with a joint investigation with Mount Pleasant Police into the sale of methamphetamine. Forty-three-year-old Lonnie Jones and 35-year-old James Corder of Mount Pleasant, as well as 35-year-old Matthew McDowell and 38-year-old Brandon Garrells of Rome were arrested. Jones and Corder each face a felony charge of conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine, while authorities arrested McDowell for illegal possession of a firearm and Garrels for possession of meth.
Intelligence received by the sheriff’s office revealed that Jones, while working as a janitor at Mount Pleasant High School, was using methamphetamine and selling the drug to non-students in the school’s parking lot. Meth pipes were seized from his belongings at the high school. Further charges are pending.
The sheriff’s office was assisted by the Henry County Reserve Deputy Unit, the Jefferson County/Fairfield PD Tactical Team, Mount Pleasant Police Department, New London Police Department, Iowa Department of Corrections High Risk Parole Officers, Iowa State Patrol, State of Iowa Division of Narcotics Officers and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.