February 27, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
A man arrested by Alexandria Police only three weeks ago in a drug investigation has already been sentenced.
31-year-old Samuel Kameron Vanatta entered a criminal information plea in DeKalb County Criminal Court Monday, February 26 to possession of a schedule II drug (methamphetamine) over 0.5 grams. He received an eight-year sentence all suspended to supervised probation and was fined $2,000. The sentence is to run concurrently with a general sessions court violation of probation against him. Vanatta was given jail credit from February 6 to February 26.
In a prepared statement, Police Chief Travis Bryant said that “on February 6, 2024 officers with the Alexandria Police Department, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, and the Smith County Sheriff’s Department received information of drug activity occurring within the city limits of Alexandria. During that time we were able to identify Samuel Kameron Vanatta as a suspect. Vanatta was stopped on Edgewood Street at the city limits where K-9 Manci was deployed and alerted to narcotics inside his vehicle. During the stop a small amount of a crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine was located along with several needles, fake U.S Currency, and other items consistent with the use of narcotics,” said Chief Bryant.
“As officers developed more information from the traffic stop, a search of Vanatta’s residence on West Main Street was conducted where officers were able to recover an additional 20 grams of a crystal-like substance (believed to be methamphetamine), 2 rifles, and a large amount of drug paraphernalia. Vanatta was arrested and charged with manufacture, delivery, sell, or possession of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and possessing a firearm during a felony,” added Chief Bryant.