Geneva man faces cocaine charges

A Geneva County man recently released from prison faces a new felony charge after he was arrested Thursday on cocaine distribution charges.

Sheriff Greg Ward said the recent approval of a $265,000 grant from the governor’s office will help make other similar arrests possible through funding the Geneva County Drug Task Force. The task force was one of five Wiregrass agencies which recently were approved for grant money.

“We haven’t won the war yet, but we’re still fighting the battles,” Ward said. “Without the grant money, it would be tough.”

According to a statement from Gov. Bob Riley’s office, the grants included $302,522 for the Wiregrass Violent Crime/Drug Task Force in Dale County. A $75,000 grant was also approved for the Southeast Alabama Violent Crime/Narcotics Criminal Intelligence Program, which serves Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike counties.

Geneva County Investigator Annie Henderson said the task force most recently arrested Maurice Cox, 58, of Geneva, on Thursday on two felony counts of distribution of cocaine. Cox was being held in the Geneva County Jail on a $200,000 bond. She said Cox was recently released from federal prison on weapons charges.

Ward said the grant will help pay the salary for an additional member to the county’s task force, bringing it to two detectives, who also work with federal agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration. He said a similar grant has helped put more than a dozen people behind bars through Operation Who’s Next, an undercover drug operation.

Two grants were also approved to help child victims in the Wiregrass area, which included $171,272 for the Southeast Alabama Child Advocacy Center and $37,535 for the Wise Center for Child Abuse Prevention.

The statement from the governor’s office said the state Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from money made available by the U.S. Department of Justice.