Search warrant executed in Tecumseh turns up drugs

Blake R. Giller, of Tecumseh, has been charged with felony methamphetamine possession and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after investigators with the Ozark County Sheriff's Department's Special Enforcement Team (SET) allegedly found methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia during the execution of a search warrant at his residence June 19.

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Lt. Matthew Rhoades, the Ozark County Sheriff's Department's Special Enforcement Team (SET) executed a narcotics search warrant at Giller's residence on County Road 555 near Tecumseh at approximately 8:30 p.m. June 19.

Lt. Rhoades wrote that when officers arrived, they encountered a vehicle pulling out of the driveway. The vehicle occupants told deputies they were there to care for Giller's dogs and confirmed that he lived at the residence and was the home's only resident. While deputies executed the search warrant, other individuals arrived and also identified Giller as the resident. Giller wasn’t at home when the warrant was served, the report says.

During a search of a shop building on the property, deputies allegedly found a plastic bag containing a white crystal-like residue, along with two digital scales that also contained a similar residue.

"During the search of a shop structure located on Giller's property, deputies located and seized a plastic baggie containing a white crystal-like residue, as well as two digital scales containing a white crystal-like residue," Lt. Rhoades wrote in the report.

According to the report, Lt. Rhoades conducted field tests on the residue found in the baggie and on one of the scales, both of which yielded positive results for methamphetamine.

Based on the evidence recovered and statements identifying Giller as the home's resident, prosecutors charged him with possession of methamphetamine, a class D felony, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia by a person with a prior drug offense, a class A misdemeanor.

Giller is charged as a prior and persistent drug offender because of multiple previous felony drug convictions in Arkansas. Court records listed in the probable cause statement show he pleaded guilty in Pulaski County in May 2022 to possession of methamphetamine or cocaine with intent to deliver, a class A felony.

The report also lists convictions in Fulton County in February 2019 for possession of drug paraphernalia used to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine or cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia used to ingest or inhale controlled substances. In a separate Izard County case that same month, Giller was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia used to ingest or inhale controlled substances, possession of a defaced firearm and theft by receiving a firearm valued at more than $2,500.

The prior and persistent offender designation allows for enhanced penalties if Giller is convicted of the new charges.

The Ozark County case was filed June 28, and a warrant was issued with a $3,000 cash-only bond. Giller was arrested on the warrant June 29 and remains in the Ozark County Jail. An arraignment and bond reduction hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 14 before Associate Judge Raymond Gross.