Published: December 02, 2008 09:34 am      

McCreary coroner arrested on drug charges

Brandon New is stepson of Pulaski magistrate Mike Wilson

The McCreary County Coroner, who is the stepson of Pulaski County Magistrate Mike Wilson, was arrested on felony drug charges Saturday night.

Brandon New, 26, Stearns, was arrested and charged with numerous drug-related offenses after being stopped by a deputy of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, just days before he was supposed to go to trial in McCreary County on misdemeanor charges from a September incident.

New’s charges included first-degree driving under the influence first, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and having a prescription controlled substance not in its proper container.

According to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, at 10:37 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29, Deputy Daryl Kegley responded to the Blue John Road area of Pulaski County in regards to a suspicious person complaint.

Kegley arrived to find a 1995 Chevrolet Suburban parked on the side of the road, still running with the vehicle engaged in reverse.

New was found slumped over the steering wheel of the Suburban, which is owned by McCreary County Fiscal Court, and was unresponsive with a syringe between his fingers. He was woken up by Deputy Kegley and determined to be under the influence of drugs.

During the on-scene investigation, a number of substances found in the vehicle and on New. Items recovered from the vehicle included six Xanax tablets, half an OxyContin pill, a soda can lid with white powder residue on it and a bag containing several syringes.

New was lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center. However, he quickly bonded out of jail about 11 hours later, when the bond, set at 10 percent of $5,000, was posted, according to a spokesperson for the Pulaski County Detention Center.

McCreary County Judge-Executive Blaine Phillips told the McCreary Record yesterday that New and his stepfather, Pulaski County Magistrate Mike Wilson, returned the Suburban to the local courthouse parking lot on Sunday.

Wilson was contacted by the Commonwealth Journal on Monday, but declined to comment.

New also serves with the North McCreary Volunteer Fire Department but has been taken off active duty until further notice.

At this time, no action has been taken regarding New’s status as coroner in McCreary County.

Phillips said there have been no complications with the coroners’ service as Deputy Coroner Daniel Ridner is on-call and every funeral home has a special volunteer.

New’s arraignment in Pulaski County will be at 9 a.m. on Dec. 8 in Pulaski District Court.

Assisting in New’s arrest was Deputy Adam Childress.

New was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or first offense, failure to or improper signal and careless driving (all misdemeanors) from the Sept. 2 incident.



••• Janie Slaven contributed to the story •••