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David Brantly Kelly, 35, of Newport TN, was arrested on several drug-related charges.

On July 26, Narcotics Agent Blake Cupp and Captain David Robertson with the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office observed suspicious behavior occurring in the parking lot of a Dollar General. Initially, Cupp and Robertson observed a woman sitting in the driver’s seat of her white car talking to another woman standing outside of it. There was also a passenger in the vehicle.

In the past, Dollar General Employees at the location had made complaints of narcotics trading taking place, so Cupp and Robertson continued to watch the exchange in case that is what was happening.

The two women ended their conversation. The second woman who had walked up to the white car got in a silver car, and both vehicles left the parking lot and headed in the same direction. Cupp and Robertson followed.

Both the white and silver vehicles failed to maintain lanes while driving on the road and nearly veered into oncoming traffic.

Cupp told dispatch that they were going to make a traffic stop on one vehicle, and advised that there was probable cause for that as well as the other vehicle that another law enforcement official would need to pull over, since he and Robertson were in one car.

Deputy Jacob Damron pulled over the silver car a little further up the road.

Upon pulling over the white car, Cupp receives information that the woman driving is Brandy Mantooth, and the man in the passenger seat immediately tells Cupp he has done nothing wrong and does not wish to identify himself.

Cupp explains to Mantooth the reason he pulled her over, and she claimed that the vehicle was “jerking” and that something must have been wrong with it. Robertson ran a check on Mantooth’s license and received news from Damron that the silver car had what appeared to be illegal narcotics inside – appearance of which was consistent with heroin and methamphetamine.

Cupp asked Damron if he could get his K9 to sniff the white car, upon which the K9 gave signal (change of behavior) that there were narcotics in the vehicle.

Mantooth, the driver of the white vehicle, was read the Miranda Warning detailing her rights, upon which she stated she had marijuana on her person, but that another woman would have to retrieve the contraband. Deputy Lyman arrived on scene as per the Mantooth’s demand, and this is when the suspect confessed she had a bag of narcotics on her that the man in the passenger seat had thrown to her and instructed her not to let law enforcement search the vehicle.

Mantooth said she was scared of the passenger because he is physically abusive. She stated that she only knows the man’s first name, David, and his nickname of Q-tip.

Law enforcement performed a facial recognition scan on the man referred to as David, and identified him as David Kelly.

Kelly is wanted out of Ohio and is a registered sex offender in that state, though he has been living in Tennessee for at least a year according to law enforcement informants.

The white vehicle was searched under the basis of probable cause, or under the suspicion that other illegal material was likely to be found.

In the center console between the driver and passenger seats, officers found drug paraphernalia such as a meth pipe, digital scales and individual baggies which are commonly associated with narcotic distribution and use. Mantooth claimed she was unaware of the material being in the car.

Lieutenant Joshua Boyce transported Kelly to the Cocke County Jail for possession of drug paraphernalia. Cupp then spoke with Mantooth after Kelly was taken away, and she suggested that there may have been more narcotics and possibly a firearm at the Airbnb the pair were staying at which was rented under Mantooth’s name.

Law enforcement followed Mantooth to the residence, which was obviously shared by both Mantooth and Kelly, and found more illegal substances.

The following items were found in and seized from the residence: approximately 1,432 suspected fentanyl tablets, 31 orange Gabapentin capsules, 31 white Gabapentin tablets, a black handgun, and $1,300 in U.S. currency.

The following items were found and seized from the white (Mantooth’s) vehicle: 13 grams of clear rock methamphetamine; a pink bag with one gram of a brown powdery substance; a pink bag with one gram of a clear rock substance; a pink bag with 16 green suspected fentanyl tablets; a clear bag with nine white tablets of suspected Hydrocodone; a gold pill container with 20 yellow tablets of suspected Diazepam, one blue tablet of suspected Clonazepam and two orange tablets of suspected Suboxone; a pink bag with crushed up, unidentified white tablets; a clear bag of 10 grams of green leafy substance suspected to be marijuana.