Callaway County-based political candidates face drug charges

CALLAWAY COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Callaway County couple running for different political offices face felony drug charges.

The Callaway County prosecutor charges Adela and Aaron Wisdom on Thursday with manufacture of a controlled substance and attempted tampering with evidence. Law enforcement claim the couple tried to burn 22 marijuana plants they had on their property after a Missouri National Guard helicopter with a county deputy flew overhead and spotted the plants.

Adela Wisdom is a Republican candidate for Missouri's 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which covers parts of the Lake of the Ozarks, as well as Cole and Callaway counties. Aaron Wisdom filed to run as a GOP candidate for lieutenant governor.

A probable cause statement prepared by Blake Atkins of the Callaway County Sheriff's Office said that Lieutenant Curtis Hall saw the 22 marijuana plants from the National Guard helicopter outside the Wisdoms' property in the 9000 block of SChrand Lane mear Williamsburg.

"While I was petitioning for a search warrant for the aforementioned location, Lieutenant Hall witnessed Adela Wisdom, who resides at the location, begin rapidly removing marijuana plants from the ground," Atkins wrote. "Aaron Wisdom, who also resides at the location, was then witnessed lighting those marijuana plants on fire."

The statement said law enforcement then went to the property and detained the couple "due to exigent circumstances."

Once Atkins had the search warrant signed by a judge, he said he went to the property and found many of the plants "removed from the ground with charring on some of the plants leaves, indicating that they had in fact been burned."

Adela Wisdom did not respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon. Online court records did not show an attorney of record for either of the suspects.