meth trafficking hero

Tennessee Firefighter Arrested for Meth Trafficking

Updated: 02-07-2007 11:17:22 AM

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Courtesy of WMCTV.com

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By day, he saved lives as a Shelby County firefighter. By night, investigators say, he sold crystal meth. Records show he was caught more than once.

The Shelby County District Attorney's Office is currently reviewing the case of former Shelby County Fireman, Michael Cole.

Michael Cole is a man who has admitted he was heavily addicted to meth while working as a first responder.

In March 2006, Collierville Police followed a tip from Fayette County Sheriff's investigators that a Shelby County Firefighter was allegedly trafficking meth into Collierville.

"His occupation at the time really didn't concern us. It was more the quantity and the drugs he was selling," says Detective John Forrester with the Collierville Police Department.

Investigators arrested Michael Cole after an undercover meth buy led them to his home.

"Most people that we usually work with buy a gram at a time. Mr. Cole had in his possession and in the house slightly over 31 grams," says Forrester.

It wasn't the first time Cole had been caught with drugs.

In July, 1985, Cole was one of several Shelby County firefighters charged with drug trafficking.

The men wore paper bags over their heads to hide their identities.

Six years later, in 1991, Cole's arrest was purged from his record and the Civil Service Board reinstated him as a firefighter.

We asked Civil Service Board Administrator Danny Kail how that could happen.

"I don't know how to answer that. I didn't make the decision and I wasn't the administrator in charge at that time," says Kail.

He says Cole was suspended without pay in 1985, demoted in rank and put on probation.

But, that doesn't explain why the second time around Cole continued working as a full-time fire fighter for two-and-a-half months after his arrest.

"We were in the process of beginning our normal investigation into circumstances like that when he resigned," says Shelby County Chief Administrative Officer, John Fowlkes.

In the meantime, he was responding to emergency calls as an admitted meth user.

"It would probably be great if we had a better method of detecting when our employees are arrested and that might be something we could do," says Shelby County Human Resources Administrator, Paul Boyd.

Boyd admits there are many unanswered questions in this case.

Boyd adds, "those that slip through the cracks eventually they will be caught."

Cole has no court date and his case is currently in the Grand Jury Unit. Cole admitted to us by phone he used drugs.

He said he lost custody of his children because of this and he'll face any other punishment that comes his way.

Right now, he's living in Collierville and draws pension worth more than two-thousand-dollars per month.

Courtesy WMCTV.com