Suspected Booze bandit arrested

Voice Staff Report
editor@tmcvoice.com

Sheriff Randy Waters announced Wednesday afternoon, May 18, 2021, alleged booze bandit, Jack Roberts, 56, of Whitley City was arrested by Deputy Greg Chaney on an outstanding warrant for the theft. Roberts was in a Nashville, Tennessee jail on other charges and waived extradition. Sheriff Waters and Chief Deputy Tom Smith drove to Nashville Wednesday morning to take Roberts into custody and bring him back to Kentucky.
Roberts was indicted in the June, 2020 Grand Jury session and charged with receiving stolen property over $10,000 or more and being a persistent felony offender. The charges stemmed from a February, 2020 theft of a stolen trailer filled with over $100,000 of liquor that was located at the D.H. Campbell lot still attached to the cab.
The Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the location of the trailer after the owner, B&Z Logistics of St. Louis, Missouri, was able to ping the vehicle using GPS tracking. The trailer’s markings, including registration and license plate were painted over with red paint. A paint roller and other materials that could have been used to disguise the markings were found inside the cab. The trailer and cab were impounded by the Sheriff. The trailer, valued at $30,000 with more than $100,000 of cargo, was recovered by the distribution center the next day.
Security footage showed the truck pulling into the lot, the driver of the semi being met by a second individual who unloaded some of the inventory, drove off, then returned and picked up the driver. James Murphy was also indicted during the Grand Jury session in June, 2020 for allegedly Receiving Stolen Property in the booze theft and is out on bond awaiting trial. Both men will probably be tried at the same time.
The McCreary County Sheriff’s Office is in charge of the investigation.