ONLY ONLINE: Documents reveal what agents took in Hodge searches

Federal authorities seized 90 items as potential evidence while executing search warrants last November at former Sheriff Lawrence Hodge’s office, home, official vehicle and other places.

According to documents obtained by the News Journal, the fruits of search warrants issued in the federal criminal investigation of Hodge have come to light for the first time.

The warrants were all served on Nov. 8, 2010. They were approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Hanley Ingram on Nov. 5 following a 95-page affidavit submitted by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive Special Agent Todd Tremaine.

The affidavit and the inventory of the search warrants first came to light last Friday when the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky filed a motion to unseal the documents.

Thirty-five items were seized from the Whitley County Sheriff’s Office at the courthouse in Williamsburg. The inventory often gives little description of the importance of the items. For instance, "20 boxes of financial documents" is listed. Some entries simply say "documents" or "CD" or "documents and VHS tape."

Of interest were: pill containers from former Sheriff Hodge’s personal desk, four knives and assorted jewelry, a green pill bottle with "cut" pills from Hodge’s desk, a subpoena for Mickey Shawn Davis, numerous boxes of documents labeled "Fee" for different years, a blue laundry basket with pawn tickets, a paper evidence bag containing empty bank envelopes with a sticky note saying it was the "Larry Lay deposit 4/3/07, numerous photos and a hard drive containing images.

At a storage unit the Sheriff’s Dept. used at an undisclosed location on US 25W, authorities took seven items, including: 12 bankers boxes of documents, a box of 2004 citations, a box of numerous pill bottles from Larry Lay, one box of unknown evidence, an evidence bag that was supposed to contain the weapon used in the murder of "Scotty Shadone" but the weapon was missing.

Agents took nothing from Hodge himself, but did get 35 items from Hodge’s home on New Zion Church Road and a barn on his property. Forty rounds of mixed caliber ammunition were found in a child’s playroom. Investigators seized pistol magazines, a video camera, a checkbook, numerous financial and other documents, two laptop computers and an open evidence bag from the master bedroom.

Also taken of note: Various firearms and ammunition, computer memory sticks, receipt from the sale of a firearm, and a metal box with keys, documents and an audio recorder. Various newspaper clippings were also taken from the home.
From Hodge’s official vehicle, investigators took 12 items: a cell phone, a black note pad and paper, business card, mail from the Kentucky Department of Treasury, three yellow tablets marked with "10" and "E797" hidden underneath the cup holder, four rolls of undeveloped film, shotgun ammunition, a green post it note with some kind of writing on it, a re-elect Lawrence Hodge Flyer, another note paper and business card, a used Northwest Airlines airline ticket and a digital recorder.

An attachment to one of the search warrants shows potential criminal charges investigators think Hodge may have committed, including: possession of a firearm by an unlawful drug user, possession of stolen firearms, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, making a material false statement to a federal agent, Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right, money laundering, RICO, intentional interception of wire, oral or electronic communications, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Officials with the ATF could not comment more specifically about items seized during execution of the search warrants.
The ATF initially became involved in the case as a suspicious break-in at the Sheriff’s Office in Dec. 2009.