Former Indiana deputy charged in synthetic drug ring

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A former central Indiana sheriff's deputy has been charged for his alleged role in a large synthetic drug operation.

Jason Woods was charged Thursday in Hancock County with six felonies, including bribery, official misconduct and dealing in synthetic drugs.

Prosecutors say in court documents that Woods used his position with the Hendricks County Sheriff's Department to provide security at a farm where the synthetic drug spice, also known as synthetic marijuana, was made and to escort the drug-making operation when it relocated from a farm in New Palestine to an Indianapolis warehouse.

Woods and his wife, Teresa Woods, who also was a sheriff's deputy, were charged in 2014 with misdemeanor counts of possessing a synthetic drug. Both were fired earlier that year.

No listed phone number could be found for Jason Woods, and he could not be reached for comment.

Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton told the Indianapolis Star that the new charges stem from a state police and federal investigation into an international conspiracy stretching from the United States to China.

"With the cooperation of some of the people that have been charged previously, it gave us the information that allowed us to charge Mr. Woods," Eaton said.

Court documents also say the Woodses were members of a church led by Robert Jaynes, the alleged ringleader of the synthetic drug operation who faces federal charges.

WRTV-TV reported that prosecutors haven't filed additional charges against Teresa Woods, and it was not immediately clear whether they intended to. No listed number for Teresa Woods could be found.