'Operation Street Sweep' Nets 17 Drug Arrests

A series of undercover drug investigations dubbed "Operation Street Sweep" has resulted in 17 new arrests, plus additional charges for five people already in jail, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.

The sheriff's Special Investigations Division obtained arrest warrants for 44 people in all, totaling 115 charges, during its investigation during the past three months. Twenty-two suspects remain at large, authorities said.

Here is a list of the arrested suspects and the charges.

• Christopher Barton, 27, of Bradenton; sale of rock cocaine (two counts), sale of heroin (three counts)
• Josiah M. Beacham, 24, of Bradenton; sale of rock cocaine (three counts), sale of marijuana
• Tania Betancourt, 40, of Bradenton; cultivation of marijuana
• Charles Brooks Jr., 57, of Bradenton; sale of a controlled substance (five counts)
• Anthony Brown, 30, of Bradenton; sale of counterfeit narcotics
• Andrew Dean Collins, 45, of Bradenton; sale of rock cocaine (two counts), possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana
• Timothy Scott Frasier, 25, of Bradenton; sale of controlled substance (3 counts)
• Erin Dawn Holmes, 34, of Bradenton; violation of probation
• Christopher Robert Kehoe, 39, of Bradenton; sale of controlled substance (two counts)
• Andrea Korn, 37, of Bradenton; sale of controlled substance (three counts)
• Izra James-Richard Nowitzke, 35, of Bradenton; sale of Oxycodone
• Charles Edward Ricker, 51, of Palmetto; sale of rock cocaine, sale of marijuana
• Bonnie Moffet Sutton, 61, of Bradenton; trafficking in Hydrocodone (three counts)
• Richard L. Tilebein Jr., 32, of Bradenton; sale of controlled substance
• Luis Alberto Valdes, 43, of Bradenton; cultivation of marijuana
• Mark Venable, 44, of Bradenton; violation of probation
• A Bradenton 17-year-old; sale of rock cocaine, sale of marijuana (two counts)

The following people were already in jail:

• FM Porter, 37; sale of marijuana (two counts)
• Angie McKenzie, 24; sale of Oxycodone (three counts)
• Jantzen Wheeler, 29; sale of rock cocaine (three counts)
• Antonio Washington, 20; sale of rock cocaine (three counts)     
• Crystal Rhoades, 33; possession of cocaine/paraphernalia  

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