9 Investigates: Sheriff concerned about low bonds for suspected drug dealers

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Nineteen suspects were arrested after Iredell County Sheriff's Office "Operation No Fooling" drug roundup.

Now, 13 of them are back on the streets.

Sheriff Darren Campbell told Eyewitness News he is deeply concerned because suspects accused of dealing drugs to his undercover deputies were given bonds as low as $2,000.

A local bail bondsman told Channel 9 he expected their bonds to be at least $10,000 to 20,000 due to the alleged crimes.

Iredell County deputies put themselves at risk going undercover to bust men and women, some as young as 17 years old, accused of dealing meth, cocaine and pills, he said.

Some didn't even spend the night in jail.

"We put a lot of time and effort into cleaning up the community and then to come down here and have them walk right out the door behind us is very aggravating," Campbell said.

We found out 15 suspects from "Operation No Fooling" had bonded out by midday Monday.

The highest bond amount was $25,000 for a repeat offender with 10 convictions. Other repeat offenders were given bonds as low as $2,000 to $3,000, including Kenneth Reid, who has a previous arrest for armed robbery. That means he got out of jail for roughly $200.

"It's a cycle, a bad cycle," said resident Erik Strazzabosco, outside the courthouse Monday.

Despite the cycle of violence that is often attributed to drug activity, Strazzabosco said he agrees with the low bonds.

"I think we're jamming up systems too much with nonviolent offenders and it costs a lot of money and it's a drain on the taxpayers," he said.

Channel 9 checked with the magistrate's office and they would not comment on why they set the bonds at these amounts.
The sheriff worries low bonds may fail to help protect the public.

"Plenty of statistics show people that buys a lot of drugs do a lot of crimes to support their habit," said Sheriff Campbell.

The Sheriff's Office is still working to track down more suspected drug dealers from "Operation No Fooling."

He's hoping when they're caught they'll be behind bars for more than two days.

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