Barbour County Sheriff’s deputies charge 19

With the Christmas holiday less than a week away, a dozen people are held behind bars without bond as part of an ongoing undercover drug operation dubbed “Grinch” by the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Deputy Eddie Ingram said investigators charged 19 people over the past week as part of the ongoing investigation. He said they’re still looking for two of the people, including Carl Wilson Gamble, 58, of Clayton, and Kennard Peterson, 25, of Eufaula, who are both charged with felony distribution of a controlled substance.

According to a statement from Ingram, the following people were charged with felony unlawful distribution of a controlled substance: Jesse William Watson, 22, Jennifer Marie Brown, 34, William Trey Price, 28, Ryan Michael Busboom, 28, Thomas Dennard Hicks, 27, Holly Marie Fischer, 34, Christina E. Stafford, 31, all of Eufaula, Hunter T. Whitman, 24, of Georgetown, Ga., and Raphael Smith, 22, of Clio and Debra Denise Steele, 45, of Clayton.

Busboom was also charged with felony possession of a controlled substance.

Janet Michelle Kelley, 32, of Georgetown, Ga., was charged with three felony counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance.

Lamar Respress, 28, of Eufaula, was charged with felony unlawful possession of a controlled substance and first-degree possession of marijuana.

Ingram said deputies also arrested five other people, but he declined to release their names because of the ongoing investigation.

“We hope to have a dozen more dealers in jail by Christmas Eve,” Sheriff Leroy Upshaw said in an e-mailed statement. “The majority of those arrested were out of jail on probation or just out of prison on drug-related charges. We’re very serious about getting the drugs off our streets.”