Two people are charged with felony drug charges in Maries County following a late night drug bust last Friday by the LANEG drug enforcement group and members of the Maries County Sheriff’s Office.

Maries County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony “Tony” Skouby has filed drug charges for Jordan Sherman, 27, of Vichy and Olivia Richardson, 24, of Rolla. Sherman is charged with the class D felony of possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, the class D felony of possession of a controlled substance—phentermine, the class D misdemeanor of possession of marijuana, the misdemeanor of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and the misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated with drugs. Richardson is charged with the felony of possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, the misdemeanor of possession of marijuana, and the misdemeanor of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sherman and Richardson were in court earlier this week. Maries County Associate Circuit Judge Kerry Rowden said he would furlough them from jail if they get into a treatment program. Once treatment is completed he will grant an own recognizance (OR) bond. The judge said they won’t be let out of jail until they can pass a drug test.

Maries County Sheriff Chris Heitman reported the drug bust occurred at about 11:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23, when the LANEG and sheriff’s deputies served a narcotics related search warrant at Sherman’s residence on MCR 453, near the airport in Vichy. During the search warrant, six people were taken into custody with two released at the scene, two booked and released on summons with misdemeanor charges, and Sherman and Richardson were held pending warrant applications for felony charges.

The sheriff said two suspects fled from the traffic stop conducted near the residence and initiated a pursuit with deputies. The deputies observed the suspects throwing items from the vehicle. They also believed the vehicle’s occupants to be under the influence. They led the deputies back to the residence and the driver nearly struck  deputies at the residence with his vehicle. Once the driver stopped, he continued to resist arrest and failed to comply with orders which forced the deputies to use force to make the arrest. 

Deputies searched the path of pursuit and found the items thrown from the vehicle by the suspects, which included marijuana and hypodermic needles. In the vehicle, deputies found meth paraphernalia and a loaded needle. The sheriff said the needle field tested positive for methamphetamine.