HARDWAY TURNS SELF OVER TO AUTHORITIES

(01/21/2006)
After cutting his ankle bracelet Thursday and leaving his daughter's Roane County residence, Jackie Lee Hardway,63, took off.

He was the object of a search in Roane, Calhoun and the region.

Friday night he surrendered to Calhoun Sheriff Carl Ballengee after he called federal marshals, telling them he wanted to give himself over to Ballengee.

Ballengee said Hardway walked out of a Mud Fork, Calhoun County house, without incident. State Police and federal marshals were waiting nearby.

Hardway has been charged by federal authorities with multiple drug offenses, and was being held on home confinement, possibly waiting further disposition.

Hardway's residence, which is located a short distance from the Calhoun line near Henry's Fork and Pink Road, was raided by police following a five-month investigation by State Police.

Police allegedly found methamphetamine and the ingredients to manufacture it. They said 10 guns, including rifles and pistols, were also found in the home.

He was charged with five federal counts, including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, manufacturing meth and possessing a firearm while manufacturing meth.

Hardway has been facing up to 20 years in prison and a maximum $1 million fine, but now his escape could add extra time to his sentence.

Hardway's son, Leonard Hardway, was also arrested following the State Police raid.

Hardway's daughter-in-law, Lelia Hardway, is currently incarcerated on drug charges after Roane authorities confiscated a large number of ingredients used to make meth from her van.

Those ingredients later ignited inside the State Police barracks at Spencer, causing a fire.

Lelia Hardway has also been arrested in relation to the manufacturing of meth, connected to a meth lab discovered at Cremo, Calhoun County.