USI counselor arrested on drug counts

EVANSVILLE — The University of Southern Indiana's psychological counseling director and his wife have been arrested after police say a marijuana-growing operation was found on their property.

State troopers in a helicopter reported spotting marijuana plants up to 6 feet tall growing in a rural area northwest of Evansville. Sgt. Todd Ringle says troopers found 73 marijuana plants on property owned by 66-year-old James W. Browning along with two pounds of marijuana packaged in a basement freezer.

Police did not say to whom Browning was suspected of selling the marijuana.

Both James Browning and 64-year-old Sara Ellen Browning were being held without bond in the Vanderburgh County Jail pending a court hearing later Thursday on felony drug charges.

University spokeswoman Kathy Funke declined to comment on Browning's arrest.