A Gamaliel area man, 58-year-old Tom Brian Sedlacek, is free after posting a $50,000 bond following his arrest Tuesday afternoon on drug and weapons charges.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says an annual marijuana eradication operation was undertaken Tuesday by officers from the Army National Guard, the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the 14th Judicial Drug Task Force, the Arkansas State Police, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and the sheriffs office.
During the operation, trained spotters in a helicopter located numerous cultivated marijuana plants on property belonging to Sedlacek. Many of the plants were located along a shooting range on the property, with multiple shooting targets nearby. There were also numerous signs in place on the property threatening to shoot anyone who dared to enter the property.
Montgomery says a tactical sweep of the property was conducted in an attempt to locate and detain the property owner, who was not found at that time. During the search, an outbuilding with running exhaust fans was located on the property. Officers also found an alarm system triggering when a person or vehicle approached by the driveway. An indoor marijuana grow operation was discovered.
A search warrant was obtained to allow a search of the premises to continue. As officers were waiting for the search warrant to arrive, Sedlacek arrived and was immediately taken into custody. He informed officers he had been growing marijuana since 1992 and had over 20 firearms inside the residence on the property, with at least one of them being an illegal firearm. He also advised he had a stockpile of prescription drugs he could use as currency if necessary.
Upon subsequent service of the search warrant, officers found 24 firearms. One of them was a sawed off .12 gauge shotgun, with a homemade pistol grip attached. There were also numerous large plastic zipper bags containing processed marijuana, numerous articles of drug paraphernalia, and thousands of marijuana seeds. Also found during the search were approximately 562 prescription pills labeled as Methadone, as well as 16 pills identified as Acetaminophen and Oxycodone.
In the outbuilding was an elaborate indoor marijuana grow operation containing eight mature plants, grow lights, an air filtration system, timers, fertilizer, pots, and other items associated with the grow operation. In all, approximately 30-40 marijuana plants in various states of maturity weighing more than 25 pounds, approximately 24 firearms, several baggies of processed marijuana, multiple grinders, piles, and other paraphernalia were found and seized as evidence.
Sedlacek has been charged with felony offenses of manufacture of a controlled substance, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, criminal use of prohibited weapon or a sawed-off shotgun, two counts of possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance with purpose to deliver, as well as terroristic threatening and felony possession of drug paraphernalia.
Sedlacek is set to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court on September 20th.
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