Tennessee police ignore pot at state official's home

Authorities in Tennessee are being accused of a coverup after marijuana was found at the house of a state official.

Tennessee police reportedly found marijuana in plain view when they entered the home of Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) Director Danielle Elks to check for intruders.

The commission is in charge of eradicating marijuana in the state in addition to regulating alcohol sales.

An unnamed ABC employee came forward to tell WSMV that it was unfair Elks had not been investigated.

"I grant you, if that had happened to any of us (ABC employees), we would have been made an example of," the ABC employee said. "We would have been in headlines in the papers, the news, and everywhere else."

"Do you think this was a cover up?" WSMV's Jeremy Finley asked.

"It sure appears that way," the ABC employee replied. "It stayed mighty quiet for a long period of time."

A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper and two Dickson County deputies had gone to Elks' home on the night of Oct. 12 to inform her that her husband, Joel "Taz" Digregorio, a keyboardist with the Charlie Daniels Band, had been killed in a car crash. The officers entered the home after they discovered that the back door was open.

Police summaries obtained by WSMV showed that officers saw what they suspected to be marijuana on a table, describing it as a "green, leafy substance." They also allegedly found rolling papers and a Governor's Marijuana Eradication Task Force sticker.

"We're all sympathetic of her loss, of her husband, I would not wish that upon any person at any time," the ABC employee told Finley. "It's illegal despite the circumstances behind it."

For their part, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said they had asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to investigate. The file was later forwarded to District Attorney General Dan Alsobrook, who declined to pursue the case.

Watch this video from WSMV, broadcast Feb. 6, 2012.

(H/T: The New York Daily News)