NEWPORT-A federal grand jury in Greeneville recently indicted 11 Cocke County residents on mostly drugs, and some weapons, charges, it was announced Friday.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials who participated in the investigation and arrests of a total of 17 people held a press conference Friday at the Cocke County Courthouse to announce the indictments.

A federal grand jury in Greeneville returned indictments during the week of Nov. 23 against Gregory Thomas, a.k.a. "Frog", 31, Sheena Coggins, 23, and Amanda Coggins, 46, all three residing at 3801 Big Creek Road, in Hartford; Ronnie L. Davidson, 43, of 322 Prospect Ave., in Newport; Misty Cutshaw, a.k.a. "Misty Weeks", 28, and Robert O. McKinney, a.k.a. "Dinero", 31, of 136 Back Nine Drive, in White Pine; Carla Sue Dockery, 41, and Carl Raden, 40, both of 134 Park St., in Newport; Robecca Nicole Hawk, 29, of 114 Willis Road, in Newport; Suzanne Gorrell, 25, and Phillip Green, a.k.a. "Flip", 22, for drug and firearms charges, both on 1013 Sunshine Way in Cosby; Daniel C. Ballinger, 25, a Morristown resident; Charles Tyrone Warren, a.k.a. "CJ", and a.k.a. "Cowboy", 29, of Knoxville; Jabri Daniels, a.k.a. "Bri", 25, arrested in Knoxville; and Kelly Middleton, 51, and Eugene Downs, 60, of 3925 East Highway 25/70, in Dandridge. In addition, Amanda Cureton, 26, of Newport, is set to turn herself in and appear in court on Monday, Dec. 7, for arraignment on the indictment. Except for Cureton, all suspects have been arrested and are in custody.

Raden was separately charged in a criminal complaint and entered a plea by information which is where if you waive a grand jury, a suspect can plead guilty to charges without an indictment.

Most defendants appeared in court the weeks of Nov. 23 and Dec. 3, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis H. Inman, and entered pleas of not guilty to the charges, according to the press release.

Four separate indictments were returned by the grand jury.

"This is a war," Assistant District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn declared at the press conference on Friday. He said several people in Cocke County have died as a result of the drug activities of those who were indicted.

Dunn also said federal investigators and federal charges were lodged because they result in longer sentences for those arrested, as compared to state or local charges.

Gregg L. Sullivan, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, said "at least one (of those indicted) is facing a mandatory life sentence in prison because of past criminal records."

Sullivan, Dunn, as well as Cocke County Sheriff Claude Strange and Newport Police Department Chief Maurice Shults, said the arrests and indictments were a result of several different law enforcement agencies working together.

Sullivan said, "I'd like to thank the sheriff of Cocke County (Strange) and the Newport Police Department."

Shults said, "The diversion (of pain medication) is a problem (resulting in) people breaking into homes. It's not the drug itself, but the abuse of" pain killers.

Dunn said "it's possible" more arrests will be made in the one investigation that resulted in various drug conspiracies. He added, "We don't stop today and say it's finished."

Robert Reeves and Greg Bowman, both assistant U.S. attorneys, were the prosecutors in the cases.

"We were able to put a stop to them," Strange said of those indicted.

Thomas, Amanda and Sheena Coggins, Dockery, and Cureton were charged in an eight-count indictment with conspiring over a 21-month period to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base ("crack"). They were also charged with substantive distributions of crack cocaine. The charges spanned from February 2008 to Nov. 2, 2009, Warren, Downs, Daniels, Hawk, Cutshaw, McKinney, Green, Middleton, and Gorrell were charged in a 23-count indictment with conspiring for more than two years to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base ("crack"). Warren, Downs, Daniels, Hawk, Cutshaw, McKinney, Green, and Gorrell were also charged with substantive distributions of crack cocaine. Downs and Middleton were charged with using and maintaining a residence in Dandridge for the purpose of distributing and using crack cocaine. Daniels, Cutshaw, Green, McKinney and Downs were also charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug offenses. The charges spanned from the summer of 2007 through Nov. 2, 2009.

Ballinger was separately charged in an eight-count indictment with distributing crack cocaine on five occasions, possessing with intent to distribute crack cocaine on one occasion, possessing a firearm in furtherance of one of the distributions of crack cocaine and with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges spanned a six-week time period between Oct. 7 and Nov. 17 of 2009.

Davidson was separately charged in a four-count indictment distributing crack cocaine on three occasions and possessing with intent to distribute more than five grams of crack cocaine on one occasion.

Rader was also arrested and pled guilty to a two-count information that charged him with conspiring over a five-month period, from June to Nov. 2, 2009, to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense.

Indictments are the result of investigations by the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).