since they were pastors more than a decade ago, called Jaynes a “spiritual predator.”
“He’s not some guy slinging spice on the side of the road,” Daugherty said. “He’s a guy who’s standing in a pulpit pontificating. He crashes down on people and makes them feel bad … and yet he’s running a multistate spice ring, and he’s dragging his own people into it.”
Jaynes now faces federal charges and is expected to plead guilty Nov. 20. He would not comment to The Star for this story, but in court records he has acknowledged his involvement and even offered to go to jail if his church members were spared prosecution.
Deadly drugs
The years-long saga involves several interconnected cases, including charges that Jaynes distributed controlled substances and misbranded synthetic drugs. His brother-in-law, Parsons, and two other Indiana suspects, Doug Sloan, and David Neal, face similar federal charges. Attorneys for Sloan and Neal declined comment on behalf of their clients. Parsons' attorney did not respond to multiple messages from The Star.
A separate but interconnected federal case has already been resolved. Roger Upchurch, of Indianapolis, agreed to plead guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance lookalike and money laundering. He admitted being "a leading member of (an) international drug trafficking organization," according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Upchurch's attorney declined to comment.
Spice first showed up in the U.S. about 10 years ago and quickly became popular because it was sold legally for a time and did not show up in most drug tests. It is made from dried plant material soaked in chemical compounds that mimic the effects of marijuana, and it is relatively easy and inexpensive to produce.
It has a widely varying impact on users. That is due to haphazard production by amateur "chemists," not to mention the dangerous side effects of the chemicals used. Synthetic marijuana was responsible for 15 deaths in the U.S. in the first half of 2015, triple the number for the same period last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Synthetic narcotics are not the harmless product traffickers and users make them out to be,” Josh Minkler, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said after Upchurch pleaded guilty. “They are mind-altering substances that cause psychosis and even death (among) our nation’s youth.”
Bibles and business, It is unclear how the operation began or what lured Jaynes and the others into the world of drugs and easy money.
What is known is that well before Jaynes was alleged to have entered the spice business, he had already established long-term connections with many of the people who court documents say had ties to the international drug ring.
In the 1990s, Jaynes was an ambitious preacher being mentored by another old-school fundamentalist Baptist pastor named Earl Chestnut. The men worked together at The Grace Church in Mooresville. It was at Grace that Jaynes grew closer to Parsons, who married his sister Sherry, now an IPS teacher. It was also during this time that Jaynes worked in the mortgage business with Sloan, as well as Chestnut's stepson, Russell Taylor.
Taylor is infamous for his connection to an unrelated high-profile case. The former head of Jared Fogle's foundation awaits sentencing in a child pornography case that also ensnared Fogle. (Subway Fame)
Chapter Three
Sowing my oats, partying and becoming a builder
Success doesn't just find you…
I grew up in New Castle, Indiana, and lived in a modest home with my parents. I have a sister (Pam) who is six years younger than myself and a brother (Steve) eighteen years younger than me. I remember my mother was pregnant with my brother at my high school graduation in 1966.
My dad was Charles Upchurch. He was a custom home builder as I was growing up. Watching the satisfaction that he got from creating places for families to live, work, and raise their children was intoxicating to me. It was wonderful and so it was not long until I knew that I also wanted to be a custom home builder too like my dad.
Shortly out of high school, I got married and way too young. I married Diane king and about ten months later we had a baby girl and we named her Misty. During our marriage, I stayed away from the home building for a while, and I worked various jobs, and I do not know why but I was never truly satisfied. Probably because we married so young, and were so inexperienced, the marriage only lasted for three and a half years until we both admitted we needed to go our separate ways. Too young and had not experienced the sowing of our oats. I played around for a while, sowing my wild oats, as they say, dating several girls and partying almost every day. It was not long until I was back working with my dad, building homes. I remember one day while working at home, I was in the crawl space, and the nice cool air was wafting through. I had been up all-night partying, and the cool breeze, simply puts me to sleep! My dad could not find me for hours, but when he finally did, he was SO pissed off! And who could blame him?
After a few years of playing the field and having fun, and too often acting downright crazy, I began to focus more seriously on my life. But one crazy time I will never forget I was at this night spot called "The Triangle" in Greenville, Ohio. I went there almost every weekend. They always had great bands, and they had a huge dance floor. They also had 3.2% beer, which at that time was available to eighteen-year-old boys and girls, so you can imagine how popular the place was "The Triangle" hosted many great bands like "The McCoy' s' (Hang On Sloopy), the "Faith" band from New Castle, Indiana and I went to school with most of the guys in the band, one night my friend, Larry Alsip, who has since died, said “Let' s go to Florida” I was up for an adventure, so I said "Sure! Let's go" We hopped in my 1961 White Volkswagen Beetle and headed south, but only to make it as far as Dayton when the darn engine blew! I just happened to have the title in the glove box, so rather than deal with the hassle and expense of towing it back to New Castle, I simply signed the title, placed it on the driver's seat with a note saying that whoever finds the car can HAVE it! So, there we were, at a gas station in Dayton, Ohio at midnight. We had no choice but to start hitchhiking back to The Triangle. But we had only gotten a mile or so down the road when two girls pulled over and asked us where we were headed. We told them we were heading to Greenville. The girls were kind enough to put us up for the night, with a little partying, and then they drove us to Greenville the next morning. Oh what a night!
In the mid-'70s (I think it was 1973) I got more serious about the building business and obtained a construction loan from a local bank in New Castle to build my first home "on spec" (meaning built to "sell"). During that time, I met my wife, now of 39 years, her name was Peggy Black. I met her through a mutual friend, and I think I fell in love with her the first time I met her! But she did not know it at the time. She was still in high school, and I was six years older, and divorced with a child. I will never forget the minute I first laid eyes on her, she reminded me of Cher, but much prettier! Peggy stood there with her long black hair, red miniskirt, and knee-length black leather boots, I was nearly speechless, and in all of her beauty and she had the smell of roses. I saw Peggy mostly in the afternoons. And we often looked for chances to have a walk or a picnic in Memorial Park, or grab some good food at Howard' s Drive-in, where the 'bellhops' sped past you with trays of shakes and burgers! We, also, of course, enjoyed cruising Broad Street in my 66 Chevy 2 Nova. But when the day came I went with her to meet her parent's things got a little difficult for a while. When her mom and dad (Don and Bobbie) found out I was divorced and had a child to boot, they forbade Peggy from seeing me. I understood their feelings, and I made the decision to leave because I respected them. In no way wanted to cause a rift between them and their daughter.
