Judge Sentences Career Offender to 60 Year Prison Term

June 20, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A suspected drug dealer recently convicted for the possession of more than 300 grams of methamphetamine stemming from an April 2021 investigation was sentenced in DeKalb County Criminal Court Tuesday, June 20.

30-year-old Brandon Tylor Mulac received a sentence of 60 years as a career offender to serve at least 60% of the term before he is eligible for parole. Mulac, who is incarcerated, is expected to seek a motion for a new trial.

Judge Wesley Bray presided.

On Wednesday, May 17, a jury of seven women and five men found Mulac guilty of methamphetamine possession (300 grams or more) with intent to sell or deliver. Mulac was also fined $75,000. The jury found Mulac not guilty on a second charge of fentanyl possession with intent to sell or deliver.

Mulac was represented at trial by Smithville attorney Brad Hannah.

According to Greg Strong, Assistant District Attorney General, who spoke with WJLE after the trial, the DeKalb County charges against Mulac stemmed from a Smith County investigation where Mulac was found with drugs during a traffic stop in April 2021. Authorities there learned that Mulac had more drugs at a residence in Smithville and they contacted the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.

“We received information from the Smith County Sheriff’s Department that they had found Mulac in possession of a large amount of methamphetamine during a traffic stop there. Through that investigation we learned that a large amount of methamphetamine could be found in a house here on South Mountain Street where we believe Mulac had been staying. We obtained a search warrant based on that information and did find a large amount of methamphetamine at that residence,” said Strong.

“A co-defendant with Mulac, Logan Sullivan was also charged with the same offenses that night because she was at the house when the search warrant was served. She is now deceased,” Strong said.

“After Mulac was charged in Smith County, we had him arrested on a grand jury pickup indictment in 2021.

The Smith County case is still pending against him where he faces a Class-A felony,” Strong continued.

“We (prosecution) called six witnesses during the trial, all law enforcement officers and experts of the TBI crime lab. The defense called one witness who testified that Mulac did not live at the South Mountain Street residence where the meth was found but all the other information we had, pointed to the fact that Mulac did live there. The defense also contended that we (prosecution) didn’t prove that Mulac was in possession of the meth,” said Strong.

Based on his criminal record, Strong said the DA’s office sought maximum punishment for Mulac.

“We (prosecutors) filed a notice that Mulac is a career offender mostly for a history (total of 13 prior convictions for either aggravated burglary or aggravated assault offenses in Rutherford County),” said Strong”.

“I want to thank the Smith County Sheriff’s Department and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department for building a good case to go forward with and the cooperation both agencies showed. They both participated in the search warrant and a big thanks goes to both of them,” said Assistant DA Strong.

June 20, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

After being convicted more than two months ago for the sale and delivery of heroin and methamphetamine, 42-year-old Michael Chad Owens learned his fate Tuesday, June 20 in DeKalb County Criminal Court.

Judge Wesley Bray sentenced Owens to a total of 45 years as a range III offender including 30 years in one case and 15 years in the other to run consecutively. He must serve at least 45% of the term before becoming eligible for parole.

On Thursday, April 6, a jury of six men and six women found Owens guilty as charged in the four-count indictment including one count each of sale and delivery of heroin and one count each of sale and delivery of methamphetamine. The jury also fined Owens a total of $90,000 including $40,000 for sale of heroin, $15,000 for delivery of heroin, $20,000 for sale of methamphetamine, and $15,000 for delivery of heroin.

Owens was among several people indicted in June 2020 as a result of an undercover drug investigation conducted by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.

“From the testimony at trial of Chief Deputy Brian Williams and Detective Stephen Barrett, they were contacted by a confidential informant which they have used in the past and she indicated to them that she had access to Owens and that he was selling heroin and methamphetamine. At that point they used that confidential informant to conduct a controlled purchase of heroin on June 21, 2019 and the methamphetamine on June 25, 2019,” said Evan Smith, Assistant District Attorney of the 13th Judicial District who prosecuted this case.

Although he has not had a long history of drug offenses, Owens is a convicted felon in at least five prior burglaries and one theft case, according to Smith.

Owens was represented at trial by attorney Mingy Ball. Owens is now incarcerated and expects to seek a motion for a new trial.

June 20, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The College Street Bridge has been hit again!

Trooper Bobby Johnson of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said 61-year-old Wendell Clutter of Crawford, Tennessee was traveling east on Broad Street Tuesday in a 2007 Freightliner pulling a trailer loaded with an empty mobile storage container when the top of the container struck the bottom of the bridge as the truck and trailer passed under the overpass. The impact forced the container off the trailer and onto the highway. Clutter was driving for MMT Incorporated of Cookeville and was enroute from Nashville to Walling, Tennessee at the time of the accident.

Clutter was not injured but was cited for his load being over height limits. TDOT employees came to the scene to inspect the bridge.

The bridge has been struck several times in recent years.

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