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Former Dem Senator arrested on meth possession charges

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Illinois

Ned Mitchell, the former longtime mayor of Sesser, and another individual were arrested Tuesday afternoon on charges of unlawful possession of methamphetamine and booked at the Franklin County Jail, according to the Sesser Police Department.

Mitchell, 70, served as mayor from 1979 to 2013, when he was defeated by current Sesser Mayor Jason Ashmore. He also served briefly in the state Senate when he was appointed to fill an unexpired term in 1999.

Along with Mitchell, Elaina Kays, 42, of Sesser, also was arrested after police executed a search warrant on Mitchell’s residence in Sesser, according to a news release from Sesser’s police department. During the search of the home, police found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, the release stated. Formal charges are pending, according to the news release.

Ned was a big Grateful Dead fan and a decent guy back when I knew him. It’s so sad to see this happen to him.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 5:16 pm

Comments

Seventy-years old and a meth addict? *sigh*

Meth truly is the scourge of rural America.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 5:36 pm
Geez, kind of late in the game to be into meth.

I imagine if you’d been the mayor of a town of 2,000 for 34 years, you don’t have a lot of secrets from your neighbors.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 5:46 pm
As a deadhead I want to say most of us don’t go anywhere near meth.

That’s not the vibe the music brings.

Comment by The Dude Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 6:47 pm
This is sad but in my opinion it should be treated like a health issue and not a criminal issue.

Comment by Illinois Resident Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 7:05 pm
If you’re 70 and want to do some meth what’s the big deal?

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 7:12 pm
Nothing but tragic.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 7:40 pm
In addition to his personal drug problem, he also had problems as Mayor handling public funds:

http://www.wsiltv.com/story/39797046/former-sesser-mayor-state-senator-jailed-on-drug-charge

Comment by Anon2 Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 9:06 pm
Galileo and Senator Kirk did the same.

Comment by Imgi Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 9:14 pm
Addiction is a terribly indifferent disease.

Addiction is a treatable disease.

What does America’s addiction rate say about our culture…I often wonder.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jan 16, 19 @ 10:17 pm
One wonders what prompted the police to get a search warrant.

Comment by tomhail Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 7:03 am
Maybe the cops saw the ACLU report which implied not enough white people being arrested for drugs. Ha. Whether this man has a drug problem or not I agree with above comment that it is a health issue.

Comment by D Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 8:22 am
another victim of the drug war, our nation needs to legalize drugs or at the very least follow Portugal and decriminalize all drugs. America is hardly the land of the free when we have the largest prison population.

Comment by frisbee Thursday, Jan 17, 19 @ 8:24 am