Woman once framed for having meth now arrested for selling it

Published 11:33 pm Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Police have arrested a woman following an undercover sting for selling meth — the same woman who had meth placed underneath her car in a criminal conspiracy in 2012 after she claimed a Murray County magistrate judge had propositioned her.

Dalton Police spokesman Bruce Frazier said Angela Garmley, 40, of 4129 Brown Bridge Road S.E., was arrested Tuesday at the Wal-Mart on Shugart Road on a warrant arising from an undercover drug investigation in July when Garmley sold meth to an informant at the Wal-Mart on East Walnut Avenue.

The investigation was a joint effort between Dalton Police and the Murray County Sheriff’s Office, Frazier said.

In July 2012, Garmley accused former Murray County magistrate judge Bryant Cochran of asking sexual favors from her in return for making a favorable ruling on a case. In August 2012, she was arrested on meth charges but told deputies she was set up. A metal tin filled with meth was found underneath her car during a traffic stop by a deputy of the Murray County Sheriff’s Office. A federal investigation revealed the deputy, a sheriff’s office captain who is Cochran’s cousin and a tenant of Cochran conspired to set Garmley up in that instance.

Garmley’s attorney, McCracken Poston, said Tuesday it was a surprise to hear she has been arrested again on meth charges. He added that during the last two years he has received several reports that law enforcement personnel are targeting Garmley.

“Since that period, we have understood from a number of sources that various agencies in the Conasauga Judicial Circuit have been offering to suspects leniency if they would ‘set up’ (Garmley) with a drug sale,” he said. “It appears from this arrest that someone trying to better their own circumstances has attempted to do this.”

Poston said although he has yet to see the evidence, this appears to be an attempt to help Cochran, who is under federal indictment, and “make everyone feel that it would be fine to not hold him accountable.”

“Either way it turns out, it is a sad day for justice in the Conasauga Judicial Circuit,” Poston said.

Former sheriff’s office captain Michael Henderson pleaded guilty in March 2013 in federal court to obstruction in the 2012 arrest of Garmley. Henderson is Cochran’s cousin and was fired in 2012 for lying to investigators.

Former deputy Joshua Lamar Greeson, who stopped Garmley’s car in the 2012 incident, pleaded guilty in April 2013 to false statements. He was fired in 2012 for lying to investigators.

C.J. Joyce, a tenant of Cochran’s, pleaded guilty in June 2013 and admitted to planting meth on Garmley’s car.

Cochran, who resigned in the summer of 2012, was indicted in May of this year in connection with the conspiracy, including for “sexually assaulting a county employee, for framing a woman who alleged that she had been sexually propositioned by Cochran, and for tampering with a witness,” according to a press release from the U.S. attorney’s office. He has pleaded not guilty.

Poston said he hopes members of local law enforcement are not letting the “Brotherhood of the Badge” influence their activities.

“I look forward to seeing the evidence in this matter, and will remind everyone that Ms. Garmley maintains her innocence until the outcome of this matter,” he said.