Veterans football assistant arrested on drug charges (updated)

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Updated at 10 p.m.
          First-year assistant Kierron Smith of Veterans was among people arrested Sunday on drug charges in Ben Hill County.

          Smith is in his first year at Veterans as a defensive line coach and teacher, of interrelated math. That’s according to the school’s “schooinsites” page’s appearance on Google, with a short line on his bio. But that information doesn’t appear on the full bio page.

Photo: Ben Hill Sheriff’s Office

          The Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Division executed a search warrant on a home in Fitzgerald on March 1 in a case that, according to WALB, began in January. The law enforcement group had information that Smith was allegedly moving pounds of marijuana into the county.

Deputies seized 1.28 pounds of pot, three handguns, and more than $4,800 in cash, and two vehicles, among other items.

Initial media reports in the area – including misspelling his first name, repeated by some Central Georgia outlets - only named Smith, not the other suspects facing charges of, among others, possession with intent to distribute.

Smith graduated from Fitzgerald and earned all-state honors and headed to Georgia Southern as a walk-on who earned a scholarship before transferring to Tennessee State.

          The names of the two other suspects were released Monday: Carlos Smith and Charles Shelton.

          Among the charges: Possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school; possession of marijuana within 1,000 feet of public housing; possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

          The Houston County School District released a statement Monday:

          “We are aware of reports regarding the recent arrest of a VHS teacher. Because this is an active legal matter and a personnel issue, we are limited in what we can share at this time; however, we can confirm that this individual is not currently at the school. The Houston County School District takes all matters involving employee conduct seriously. We are following established district procedures in accordance with board policy and employment laws.”

There was plenty of criticism on social media about the investigators posing for a picture and publicizing the arrest, most noting the small amount of marijuana seized but passing by the cash and guns.

“Selling drugs, using drugs, transporting drugs, distributing drugs is not something that I think any parent wants a teacher to be known for or maybe even becoming the example [to students] of how they should live their life in order to make big money, easy money,” Colonel Chris Stephens of the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office told WALB.