Chewing gum passed off for crack

A sealed indictment charged Burford Allen Weeden with two counts of a sale of a controlled substance, according to the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department.

A hearing is set for July 3 in General Sessions Court.

Investigator Anthony Young was contacted by a criminal informant who said they could buy Xanax pills and crack cocaine from Weeden.

The informant was then given $20 for the purchase of four Xanax pills. The transaction was then monitored via a monitoring device.

“We heard Mr. Weeden tell the informant that he had taken one of the Xanax pills he had purchased for the informant himself,” Young said.

The informant then brought the remaining three pills to authorities.

“The informant then told us that Mr. Weeden had told her that he did not know anybody that had crack cocaine for sale at this time,” Young said.

Later Weeden allegedly contacted the informant, saying that he had the crack she wanted to purchase and told her “first come, first served,” the investigator said.

Young said he then met the informant and took photographs of the text message and provided her with $60 for the crack purchase. A meeting was arranged “at the old projects in Woodbury.

“Mr. Weeden gave the informant what looked to be chewing gum for what was supposed to be crack cocaine. We could hear (the) informant tell him that we he had sold her was not crack cocaine but chewing gum,” Young said.

The gum was packaged like crack, the investigator said.