White County Man Wrongfully Arrested on Meth Charges

A White County man serving on a grand jury found himself on the wrong side of the law after he was arrested in court for charges he didn’t commit.

According to Attorney Brett Knight, Ronnie Richardson was in the courtroom serving as a grand juror when he was arrested on indictments charging him with selling or delivering methamphetamine.

“From the very beginning, [Richardson’s] initial reaction was he thought this was some kind of a joke or some kind of a prank that someone was pulling,” Knight said, “because he had never been involved in any criminal activity and had never even been accused of having done anything wrong prior to this.”

Knight said Richardson tried to tell authorities they had the wrong man but was taken into custody and placed on $60,000 bond.

“Obviously after he was taken into custody and and had to make bond, he realized there was a tragic mistake,” Knight said. “When he came into my office and hired us to represent him, he told me this story. I began looking into it and it became clear quickly that, in fact, the White County Sheriff’s Office had arrested the wrong person and that  my client, Mr. Richardson, had not been involved in any kind of criminal activity whatsoever.”

Knight spoke with Assistant District Attorney Bruce MacLeod Friday during Richardson’s arraignment in criminal court. He said MacLeod told him the WCSO looked into the case again since Richardson’s arrest.

“The detective quickly came to the conclusion that they have in fact arrested the wrong person,” Knight said. “The person who was conducting the sale and delivery of methamphetamine that they were arresting for, was not my client, Mr. Richardson, who they had arrested for that charge.”

Knight said the state has dismissed the charges against Richardson, but added he will look into other legal issues brought up as a result of Richardson’s arrest. Following the arrest, the WCSO posted Richardson’s mugshot on their Facebook page, which was removed Friday afternoon.

“We’ve also asked them to post a clarification that in fact Mr. Richardson was not involved in criminal activity,” Knight said. “…There’s also the entire matter of him having been arrested wrongfully and the amount of money he’s out. So we’ll be in communication with the White County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office about that.”

WCSO declined to comment on the situation at this time. Emails and calls to the District Attorney’s office have gone unanswered.