A man accused of taking more than 1,000 doses of fake drugs to the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee this week was arrested on a similar charge at the Wakarusa music festival in Arkansas in 2015.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

But the quantity of bogus drugs was much smaller at Wakarusa.

David Edward Brady, 45, of Albany, N.Y., told deputies from the Coffee County sheriff's office in Manchester, Tenn., that he was doing "God's work" by selling fake drugs.

Deputies spotted Brady under his tent Wednesday at Bonnaroo with what appeared to be narcotics, according to a news release from Lucky Knott, a spokesman for the Coffee County sheriff's office.

Deputies approached Brady, and when he stood up, Brady had what appeared to be a bag of mushrooms hanging from the waistband of his pants, according to the news release.

According to an arrest warrant, police found about 1,000 hits of fake LSD, 37 pills made to look as if they were Molly (a synthetic drug that alters mood and perception), 22 bags of fake mushrooms, 20 bags made to look like cocaine, and an incense stick made to look like black tar heroin.

Coffee County sheriff's investigator James Sherrill arrested Brady on a charge of possession of counterfeit controlled substances, according to the release.

Brady was still in the Coffee County jail Friday with bail set at $120,000. He's scheduled to be in court Aug. 11 in Coffee County.

Brady will be extradited to Arkansas after he is adjudicated in Tennessee, Knott said. Manchester, Tenn., is 66 miles southeast of Nashville, Tenn.

On July 6, 2015, security personnel at Wakarusa escorted Brady to the front gate of the event after observing him with what appeared to be 7.2 grams of heroin, 7.6 grams of mushrooms and 8.8 grams of methamphetamine, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant filed in Franklin County Circuit Court.

Police officers determined that the drugs were fake. Brady was arrested and charged in Franklin County Circuit Court with felony possession with intent to deliver or manufacture counterfeit drugs, which falls under Arkansas Code Annotated 5-64-442(b)(1). The criminal information signed by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Phillips also notes fake cocaine in Brady's possession.

Brady was released on $5,000 bond, but he didn't show up for court, so a warrant was issued for his arrest Dec. 16, 2015, for failure to appear, records show.

Wakarusa was last held June 4-7, 2015, on Mulberry Mountain north of Ozark. A message on the festival's Facebook page cited sour business relations among organizing partners as the main reason behind what the post calls "a hiatus."

The festival, which normally was held in June, hasn't been advertised this year.

Metro on 06/10/2017