Genoa man pleads not guilty to federal drug charges

Jeremy Paul May, 33, appeared with Texarkana lawyer Matthew Golden before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant for his first appearance on a federal indictment charging him with four counts of methamphetamine distribution and a single count of felon in possession of a firearm. May’s indictment alleges he sold meth on four different dates in late 2015 and that he was in possession of a .38 special handgun in January.

A search warrant for an outbuilding on May’s parent’s property in Genoa, Ark., filed Jan. 13 in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas alleges May is a mid-level meth distributor associated with other suspected drug traffickers in the area. According to the search warrant affidavit, May and an associate sold meth not only to adults, but sold and administered methamphetamine to minors.

A minor interviewed in March 2015 at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Texarkana claimed to have witnessed May and a confederate cooking “red methamphetamine” at May’s residence on Genoa Road in Genoa, Ark. May was living in an outbuilding on his parent’s property from which he cooked, packaged and sold methamphetamine. Several minors referred to in the search warrant affidavit allege May provided methamphetamine to young girls in exchange for sex.

Dates for specific drug transactions attributed to May in the search warrant affidavit mirror dates listed in the indictment handed down May 11. An affidavit on file in an active drug case in Miller County circuit court alleges May conducted at least one drug deal within 1,000 feet of a church.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wulff filed a motion asking the court to keep May behind bars while his case is pending. Golden waived the issue of detention and May remains in the custody of U.S. Marshals.

May’s case is scheduled for jury selection July 25 before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey in Texarkana’s downtown federal building.