CUP: Mayfield Indicted Again

Sprint Cup

CUP: Mayfield Indicted Again

Jeremy Mayfield indicted on possession of stolen goods charges...

Bob Pockrass | http://www.scenedaily.com | Posted February 20, 2012 Charlotte, NC

Jeremy Mayfield denies he has ever used methamphetamine. (Photo: CCSD)

Suspended NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield was indicted by a Catawba County (N.C.) grand jury Monday on charges of possession of stolen goods stemming from a Nov. 1 search of his property.

The charges – three counts of possession of stolen goods from Fitz Motorsports, Red Bull Racing and office equipment from DEA Ventures, according to indictments posted online by Charlotte television station WSOC – were not a major surprise as law enforcement officials last November seized more than $100,000 with of goods that had been reported stolen. Also found was 1.5 grams of methamphetamine, and Mayfield was indicted on charges of felony possession of the drug in November. The drug case is pending with March 5 as the next scheduled court date.

According to the original search warrant, a source went to police and told them about the stolen goods on the Mayfield property.

Mayfield’s attorney issued a statement after the search stating that Mayfield was unaware of the methamphetamine on his property nor any stolen equipment or other items.

“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,” attorney Daniel Marino said in a Nov. 2 statement.

“This search was prompted by what the evidence will show were baseless allegations by an unreliable source.”

According to the search warrant, a source told police that Mayfield was among a group of people that broke into Fitz Motorsports and stole two surface plates to sell as scrap metal and broke into Red Bull Racing and stole audio equipment and aluminum flooring.

The initial warrant lists three other companies whose reported stolen goods were found on Mayfield's property. The items, according to the warrant, included scrap metal, semi-truck accessories, truck parts, gears and welding equipment.

Jeremy Mayfield was suspended from NASCAR in May 2009 for testing positive for methamphetamines. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Seized during the raid on Mayfield’s property was nearly $30,000 of items from Larry Grant and Company (machinery transformers, motorized truck mirrors, lights and hydraulic rubber hose sets) and approximately $67,000 worth of items from Lee Family Real Estate (a welder, alternators, radiators, and buckets and bins of hydraulic fittings), according to the warrant.

Audio visual equipment seized, according to the warrant, included three speakers, stage equipment, a woofer, a mixer and two commercial televisions.

Also among the items seized from Mayfield’s property were a meth pipe and a butane lighter, according to the list of items recovered, which was included in the warrant.

Police returned a few weeks later to recover furniture that had been reported stolen. According to that search warrant, police said Mayfield and another man were in a rear lot at Anderson Truck Lines at 3 a.m. Feb. 26 with a conventional-cab “big rig” style truck used for pulling trailers. Mayfield told them they were resting and police left. Later that day, according to the warrant, four business trailers were reported stolen by Anderson Truck Lines.

Mayfield was suspended by NASCAR in May 2009 after failing a drug test that NASCAR officials say was positive for methamphetamine. NASCAR officials also said that Mayfield failed another drug test in July 2009.

Mayfield is suing NASCAR over his 2009 suspension. Saying that Mayfield couldn’t sue because of waivers he had signed to compete in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, a judge ruled in favor of NASCAR in May 2010 before the case could ever make it to trial. The U.S. Court of Appeals held a Jan. 24 hearing but has not released a decision on whether to reverse the judge’s ruling.

Mayfield has said he has never used methamphetamine and that the tests are a false positive for a mix of over-the-counter allergy medication and prescription medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

When asked why Mayfield would deal in stolen property, according to the affidavit, “the source advised that Mayfield is a consistent user of methamphetamine and often consumes up to an ounce a day of that substance. The source alleges to have personally witnessed Mayfield purchase and consume methamphetamine over 500 separate times.”

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