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Former NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield Arrested for Possession of Meth and Stolen Goods

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Jeremy Mayfield’s downward spiral publicly began in 2009. Depending on who you ask though, the 42-year-old former NASCAR driver’s drug problems surfaced long before that.

On Tuesday night, police searched Mayfield’s house in Catawba, North Carolina based on an anonymous tip that he was in possession of stolen goods. Not only did they find nearly $100,000 worth of items reported stolen from two trucking companies in Lincolnton, N.C., the police also found forty firearms and 1.5 grams of methamphetamine.

Jeremy Mayfield courtesy Darryl W. Moran Photography via FlickrMayfield was charged with felony possession of methamphetamine, and more charges are likely to follow as detectives from Lincoln County plan to charge him with possession of stolen goods.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said Mayfield had heavy equipment parts, welders and welding accessories, truck parts, an engraving machine and other items that were apparently reported stolen from two businesses in late 2010 and early 2011.

Of course Mayfield denies all charges as his attorney says the search was conducted based on “baseless allegations by an unreliable source.” Unreliable or not, the anonymous tipster was right in its claim that stolen goods were on Mayfield’s property.

“Mr. Mayfield has no knowledge of either stolen property or methamphetamine being present on his property and denies the accusation that he was in possession of methamphetamine or any other illegal drug and he denies any suggestion that he knowingly received or possessed stolen property,” said Daniel Marino, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney.

We’ve heard this “it’s all a fabrication” claim from Mayfield before. It was early-May in 2009 when Mayfield tested positive for meth during a pre-race drug test. He was suspended indefinitely, by both NASCAR and his team owner, even though he claimed the test stemmed from a combination of Adderall and the over-the-countery allergy medication Claritin.

It’s unclear whether Mayfield claims the 1.5 grams of meth found on his property are also just a mix of Adderall and Claritin.

Two months after the positive test, a federal judge temporarily lifted the suspension. Unfortunately, Mayfield failed a random drug test again on July 6 and on July 24 a federal appeals court reinstated the suspension.

During the battle over whether Mayfield should or should not be suspended, NASCAR filed an affadavit which featured statements from Mayfield’s step-mom that Mayfield’s drug habit began back in 1998, when she used to see him cook up his own meth.

My friends over at thestir.cafemom.com have a great breakdown of what went down in 2009.

It all started when Mayfield failed a random drug test. And then another random drug test. And then his stepmother Lisa filed an affidavit saying that Jeremy not only used meth regularly, he cooked it himself. Mayfield responded by calling her a “whore” who “shot and killed” his dad (whose death was supposedly a suicide). Then Lisa flipped out and showed up drunk at Mayfield’s house, where she punched one of his employees and kicked his wife in the crotch.

It is clear Mayfield is once again in a battle to clear his name. Responding to comments on twitter, Mayfield’s wife, Shana, tweeted: “Such a shady deal. Makes no sense. … I as confused as u r.”

As far as the stolen goods, all were reported stolen by two trucking companies: Lee Boy Inc. and Larry Grant Inc.

Tom Weese, of Lee Family Real Estate, LTD, told WBTV that roughly $65,000 worth of items were stolen from his business last year. He recovered most of his goods Tuesday night after Mayfield’s arrest.

The investigation is still ongoing, and Weese believes there will be more arrests to come.

“It wouldn’t even be possible for one man to conduct an operation like this,” he said. “It’s unbelievable that the operations they had going on down there.”

Currently, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are running the 40 firearms, which range from antique guns to high-powered rifles, through its gun tracing system to determine if any were reported stolen.

After fighting with NASCAR during the past 30 months, now Mayfield has to battle the state of North Carolina in an attempt to clear his name of all charges. These latest transgressions, whether true or not, clearly do not help that cause.

Photo courtesy Darryl W. Moran Photography via Flickr.

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