Pursuant to an Order of Forfeiture that was recently entered by the Adair Circuit Court in separate criminal drug trafficking cases, the Master Commissioner of the Adair Circuit Court will sell at public auction a house, garage, and approximately 2.014 acres of property located at 2343 Millerfield Road, Columbia, KY.
This real estate was forfeited to the Commonwealth of Kentucky as part of a plea agreement entered into by the owners, James Timothy Cook and Tammy Cook, after they were each convicted of multiple counts of trafficking in marijuana out of the residence. Investigations led by the Kentucky State Police Drug Enforcement Special Investigations (DESI), with the assistance of numerous other law enforcement agencies, revealed that undercover agents purchased a total of approximately eight (8) pounds of marijuana from the Cooks through at least seven (7) separate transactions in 2014, 2015, and 2016. A search of the property was later conducted in September 2018, with officers recovering several items of evidence including cash, a handgun, and ninety-four (94) separate bags of marijuana weighing a total of over four (4) pounds. The Cooks were indicted by an Adair County Grand Jury and later appeared in Adair Circuit Court with their attorney, Hon. Joseph Stewart of Lebanon, KY and pled guilty.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Wright recommended that James Timothy Cook serve 10 years in prison and Wright opposed probation for James Timothy Cook, who had multiple prior convictions for drug trafficking and other crimes. Wright recommended that Tammy Cook receive a sentence of 4 years and he did not oppose probation for Tammy Cook, who had a very limited prior criminal record. Wright also pursued a forfeiture of the real estate based on the Cooks’ repeated use of the property to further the sale of large quantities of marijuana in Adair County.
Both individuals were sentenced on September 10, 2019. Adair Circuit Judge Judy Vance Murphy sentenced James Timothy Cook to serve 10 years in prison. Tammy Cook was placed on probation for 4 years. Pursuant to the plea agreements that were entered into with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Cooks agreed to a forfeiture of the real property that was used to facilitate the drug offenses, and Judge Murphy entered an order directing that the property be forfeited and sold.
The real property will now be sold at public auction by the Master Commissioner, J.D. Zornes. The sale is open to the public and is scheduled to take place at the Adair County Judicial Center on Thursday, December 12, 2019 at 10:00amCT. The proceeds of this sale will be distributed among the various law enforcement agencies that assisted in this drug investigation, including KSP, Adair Co. Sheriff’s Dept, and other law enforcement agencies in south central Kentucky, as well as the 29th Judicial Circuit’s Asset Forfeiture Account that is maintained by the Attorney General’s Office.
