Ringgold lawyer arrested for second time

Update:

According to documents provided by Ashley Davis Grooms, this case was dismissed and expunged from the record in 2013.

photo Ashley Davis Grooms, 35, is charged with two counts of possession of schedule II drugs and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.

A Ringgold, Ga., attorney was arrested Wednesday for the second time in three months.

Ashley Davis, 35, was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony for her role in a currency counterfeiting operation and released on a $5,000 bond, police say.

Davis, an attorney who runs her own firm in downtown Ringgold, was previously arrested in May and charged with two counts of possession of schedule II drugs and possession of tools for the commission of a crime. Police say they found methamphetamine and cocaine in her home.

Listed as an "active member in good standing" with the State Bar of Georgia and licensed to practice law since 2003, Davis did not return a message left at her office Friday evening.

Earlier this month, police received a tip that Michael Blake Tucker, 26, was counterfeiting $5 and $10 bills at Davis' residence on Mountain Creek Drive, according to a Ringgold police incident report. Tucker and Davis were dating at the time, and Tucker had recently been released from prison, the report said.

When questioned by police, Davis admitted that she knew Tucker was counterfeiting bills at her house and said she thought he was using her computer and scanner to create the fake money, the report said.

She told police that Tucker, who had been creating counterfeit bills for several weeks, showed her some of them and asked her to evaluate how real they looked.

Tucker planned to use the fake bills at the Chattanooga Flea Market, Davis said, and also spent at least one counterfeit bill at the Hardee's in Ringgold.

The incident report said Davis did not report Tucker's illegal activities because she thought she could change him and because she felt threatened by him.

Davis cooperated with police during the investigation, Ringgold Police Chief Dan Bilbrey said, and officers searched her home and found clippings from the paper the bills were printed on.

Police are still looking for Tucker, who has been charged but not yet arrested, Bilbrey said, adding that he wasn't sure of the exact charges.

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