A week-long effort from June 22 to 28 by local, state and federal law enforcement officers in East Tennessee led by the U.S. Marshals Service, resulted in 380 felony arrests for violent crimes, sex crimes and drug crimes.

Operation Falcon (which stands for Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally) cleared 688 warrants in the 41 counties that make up the Eastern District of Tennessee, officials said.

Of these arrests, 26 were for sexual offenses, and 14 unregistered sex offenders were arrested, said Warren Mays Jr., supervisory deputy U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District. In addition, four homicide suspects were arrested, and 176 narcotics arrests were made, he said.

Seized were 3.5 kilograms of narcotics, including marijuana, heroin and cocaine, Mays said at a press conference Wednesday at the James H. Quillen United States Courthouse.

Evidence gathered during the arrests is currently under review, he said, to determine the potential for other federal charges.

Efforts in the 10 Northeast Tennessee counties that make up the Greeneville division were coordinated from here, Mays said.

The effort based out of Greeneville netted 74 arrests. Mays said 11 of those arrests were in Greene County and 11 were in Cocke County.

Specific information was provided for only a handful of the arrests.

Jeff Hedden, the U.S. marshal for the Eastern District, said the overall East Tennessee effort ranked 14th in terms of the number of arrests, out of 94 federal districts across the country that also took part Operation Falcon.

Hedden said local efforts involved the Kingsport, Bristol and Morristown police departments, and the sheriff's departments in Greene, Washington, Cocke and Hamblen counties.

Praising Greene County Sheriff Steve Burns for his cooperation, Hedden said, "We always tend to lean on our good friends."

Burns was involved in a standoff with an armed man at the time of the press conference and could not attend.

Asked about it this morning, Burns said, "We have an excellent working relationship with the U.S. Marshals Service.

"We appreciate them putting this Operation Falcon together, and we appreciate the opportunity we had to work with them to help get some warrants served and some people off the street."

Each participating officer was sworn in as a special deputy U.S. marshal immediately prior to the start of the operation, Mays said. This special authority empowered them to work across traditional lines of jurisdiction throughout the week.

Also participating, Hedden said, were the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the state probation and parole service, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and "our very good friend" Russ Dedrick, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Dedrick said he and his staff were happy to work with law enforcement on this important operation.

Noting the high number of arrests, Dedrick said, "You can't measure that in terms of lives saved and problems erradicated."

Dedrick said East Tennessee as a whole owes the "modern-day Marshal Dillons" of the U.S. Marshal's Service "a deep debt of gratitude" for putting together and coordinating the massive effort.

Dedrick addressed several dozen law enforcement officers attending the press conference, saying, "Most of all, thanks to all of you agents."

Mays said the U.S. Marshals Service "could never have been able to produce anywhere near this many arrests" without the help of those present.

Mays said the 380 arrests cleared 688 outstanding warrants. He said this was possible because many of those arrested had multiple warrants against them. Also, investigations turned up warrants against people who were deceased, or already in prison or jail.

Mays said some may ask "Why you can't make arrests like that all the time?"

He said the intense effort involved about 150 law enforcement officers and U.S. attorneys all over East Tennessee working 12 to 18 hours per day, every day for a week.

"You're just not able to sustain that kind of effort" for much longer than a week, he said. Mays said he personally worked 16 to 18 hours each day.

The effort in the 10-county Greeneville district involved about 40 agents.

Mays said this was the third time that a Falcon-type operation has taken place in East Tennessee.

In the past, Falcon operations have taken place primarily in large cities.

Hedden said he was gratified that the effort has been extended into smaller cities and towns, and rural areas. "I'm proud that they're finally bringing this home."

He said "the communities all of us live in" are made safer by such efforts. "Working together, sharing resources, makes us stronger," he said, and the effort "makes us stronger, not only as a community, but as a nation."

Hedden said U.S. marshals typically spend a lot of their time working on careful investigations, often involving white-collar crime, but most of them were deputies at the county level early in their careers.

The veteran lawman said he personally thinks most U.S. marshals find, as he does, that this type of "cuffin' and stuffin' " operation, where large numbers of suspects are arrested in a short period, is a gratifying change from their normal routine.

In addition to taking criminals off the street, Hedden said, a high-profile operation such as this one can "get some people's attention."

The press conference highlighted one Cocke County arrrest, and took advantage of the opportunity to draw attention to two fugitives still at large who are wanted on sexual battery charges.

Ronnie A. Britt, of Cocke County, was arrested during Operation Falcon on old warrants charging him with two counts of sale and delivery of marijuana.

When arrested on June 25, according to U.S. marshals, Britt had more than 14 ounces of crack cocaine in his possession, two pounds of marijuana, a loaded shotgun and more than $3,000 in cash. In 2000, he pled guilty in Morristown to four counts of delivery of a controlled substance.

The marshals also noted that John Sheridan Sneed, 45, is wanted for aggravated sexual battery involving a girl who was six years old and a boy who was seven at the time. Kristine Marie Sneed, 30, is also charged in that crime. The Kingsport Police Department is the investigating agency.

Anyone with information should contact the KPD at (423) 229-9300 or the U.S. Marshals Service at 638-3391.

For more information about Operation Falcon nationwide, go to http://www.usmarshals.gov 08/media.