(Chester County, TN) The man accused of kidnapping and killing Holly Bobo tried to smuggle meth into jail.
After Zachary Adams’ arrest in Decatur County, the drugs were found when he was transferred to Chester County March 1.
This was brought to light when TBI Director Mark Gwyn spoke in the state capitol at a senate judiciary committee hearing Tuesday.
While arguing for stricter limitations of pseudoephedrine, Gwyn pointed out Adams tried to smuggle a bag of meth into the Chester County jail.
It’s no secret Adams has a history of selling and using meth, but he pushed his luck a little too far when he was transferred to Chester County.
He was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and introducing drugs into a penal facility.
The Chester County sheriff would not say how Adams was able to get the drugs.
The Decatur County sheriff did not return phone calls asking the same question.
TBI spokeswoman Illana Tate said this sheds light on a bigger problem, widespread meth abuse in Tennessee, “I would consider it to be an epidemic,” she said. “It’s a major problem here and so the issue here now is just how much it affects everyone.”
Gwyn said that it is leading to more violent crimes.
“At what point do we not stop that?” he asked at the committee hearing. “At what point do we not stop the murders?”
It is a problem Bobo family friend Ernest Sanders said he has seen first-hand among people in his small Decatur County community.
“If they don’t get out of here, they’re going to sell dope. There’s nothing else for them to do.”
The topic of limiting pseudoephedrine sales remains controversial.
Gwyn is advocating for tighter restrictions, so more people do not fall victim to meth and meth abusers.
“I don’t want to inconvenience anybody, but there is no family in the state that deserves to go through what that family went through for the past three years,” Gwyn said, speaking about the Bobos.
