Deputies were searching for fugitive in Iowa mayor's home. They found something else

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WEBVTT LARGEST DRUG BUST IN GUTHRIE COUNTY HISTORY MAX: WE ARE JUST OUTSIDE THE HOME OF BUT JAMAICA MAYOR, MADONNA KENNEDY. 18 MARIJUANA PLANTS WERE FOUND IN HER HOME. THE CITY COUNCIL SAYS THEY ARE PLANNING AN EMERGENCY MEETING TO GET THE MAYOR OUT OF OFFICE. ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, GUTHRIE COUNTY AUTHORITIES RECEIVED A TIP THAT RODNEY HALTERMAN, A MAN WANTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER IN STORY COUNTY MIGHT BE HIDING OUT IN JAMAICA MAYOR LADONNA KENNEDY’S HOME. ALTERMAN IS THE FOSTER SIBLING OF RANDY KENNEDY’S GRANDDAUGHTER. WHEN AUTHORITIES ARRIVED WEDNESDAY, HALTERMAN WASN’T THERE, BUT DEPUTIES DID FIND SOMETHING ELSE. >> THE SMELL OF MARIJUANA WAS pSTRONG. MAX: A MARIJUA GROW INCLUDING MARIJUANA PLANTS IN MAYOR 18 KENNEDY’S BASEMENT. DEPUTIES SAY EACH PLANT CAN PRODUCE UP TO THREE POUNDS OF MARIJUANA. THE FIND CAME AS A SHOCK >> WE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER IN GUTHRIE COUNTY, SO IT WAS A SURPRISE. MAX: SHERIFF ARGANBRIGHT SAYS MAYOR KENNEDY GAVE NO EXPLANATION AS TO WHY SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD SO MUC MARIJUANA. ARGANBRIGHT ALSO SAYS HI DEPUTIES WERE NEVER TIPPED OFF ABOUT THE OPERATION. >> IT IS UNREAL THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN IN A SMALL TOWN LIKE THIS. WITH HER BEING THE MAYOR THE RIA’N MAX: JAMAICA CITY COUNCILMAN H.D. MEINECKE SAYS, SURPRISE HIM. >> I HAVE KNOWN THEM FOR YEARS. THE WORD ON THE STREET -- MAX: HE SAYS THE CITY COUNCIL IS PLANNING AN EMERGENCY MEETING, TO BOOT MAYOR KENNEDY FROM OFFICE. I TRIED TO SPEAK WITH MAYO KENNEDY AT HER HOME, BUT NO ONE ANSWERED THE DOOR.MAYOR KENNEDY WERE BOTH RELEASED THURSDAY WITHOUT BOND RIA’N WE HAVE BEEN TOLD NO COURT DATE HAS BEEN SETTLED. THE CITY COUNSELOR TOLD US THEY’RE H

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A small-town central Iowa mayor and her husband have been arrested after Guthrie County sheriff's deputies said they found a marijuana growing operation in the couple's basement.Authorities made the discovery after they received a tip that Rodney Halterman, who was wanted on an arrest warrant for attempted murder in Story County, was hiding in a home owned by 50-year-old Jamaica Mayor LaDonna Kennedy and her husband, 58-year-old Randy Kennedy.Deputies said Halterman, 18, is the foster sibling of Randy Kennedy's granddaughter. Halterman was in a fight with another man Saturday afternoon when the gun he was holding went off and a bullet hit 19-year-old Iesha Jabbar in the chest, police said. He then fled the scene.While looking for Halterman in Jamaica, deputies called for a search warrant because they smelled an "overwhelming odor of raw marijuana" coming from the house. After a search warrant was issued, law enforcement authorities found 18 marijuana plants, nine packages of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Each package was estimated to contain 4-5 ounces of marijuana."We all know each other in Guthrie County, so it was a surprise," Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright said.RELATED: Authorities arrest man suspected of shooting woman in chestThe sheriff did not indicate why the Kennedys had that much marijuana in the basement.Halterman was not inside the home; he was later arrested by Greene County sheriff's deputies in Churdan, Raccoon Valley Radio reported.The Kennedys were arrested Wednesday night and released Thursday from the Guthrie County Jail on their own recognizance.They were charged with manufacture with intent to deliver marijuana, possession of a controlled substance and two counts of failure to affix a drug stamp. A court date has not been set.City Council members said they are planning an emergency meeting to determine the mayor's future."It's unreal that this would happen in a small town like this, with her being the mayor," Jamaica City Council member H.D. Meinecke Jr. said.KCCI contacted the Jamaica mayor at her home, but no one answered the door.The Dallas and Greene county sheriff's offices, as well as the Iowa State Patrol, assisted the Guthrie County Sheriff's Office in the investigation.