A trio of Madisonville residents were arrested July 3 after a raid of a Ridge Road home turned up suspected methamphetamine and the materials needed to make the drug.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Drug Officer Conway Mason said he and other deputies served the search warrant at Billy Fox’s home, arresting Fox, Michelle Cosnahan and Tim Holt.

Mason said officers found three backpacks in a closet that appeared to belong to Fox. Inside the backpacks were lithium batteries, lye, Coleman fuel, ammonia nitrate, coffee filters and other items that can be used to manufacture methamphetamine. They also found a substance that tested to be approximately one pound of pseudoephedrine.

Fox, 46, is charged with initiating the process to manufacture methamphetamine.

Cosnahan, 41, Crestview Apartments, had a blue powder thought to be methamphetamine on her. She is charged with possession of methamphetamine and initiating the process to manufacture methamphetamine.

Holt, 41, Oklahoma Avenue, was found with a white powder believed to be methamphetamine on him. He is also charged with possession of methamphetamine and initiating the process to manufacture methamphetamine.

The drug arrests continued for the Sheriff’s Office on the July Fourth holiday when Deputy Ben Baker found Jeffrey Millsaps slumped over in the seat of his car at Teague’s Service Center on Highway 68.

Baker said he shook Millsaps awake and asked him if he was OK. Millsaps was slow to respond and had slurred speech.

Millsaps got out of his car and attempted some field sobriety tests, but he performed poorly on each one. 

Millsaps, 35, Druid Hill, Tellico Plains, would have been arrested on a charge of public intoxication, but when Detective Mike Morgan arrived on the scene to help inventory his vehicle, officers found a white powder believed to methamphetamine and a green leafy substance in a bag thought to be marijuana. They also found a loaded .25-caliber automatic handgun.

There was also fertilizer, lithium strips, coffee filters, a hand torch, large scales and other items that can be used to make methamphetamine in the car.

Millsaps is charged with possession of methamphetamine, initiating the process to make methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

michael.thomason@advocate anddemocrat.com | 442-4575.