By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Authorities are searching for a Shelby County man that allegedly circulated on social media a false list of Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force informants.

Jeffrey Scott Carter, 30, who lists addresses in Calera and Columbiana, is being sought for arrest on felony charges of second-degree criminal possession of a forged document and obstructing governmental operations, according to Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force Commander Lt. Clay Hammac.

“On March 2 at about 3 p.m., the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force was made aware from a citizen complaint about a suspected ‘list’ floating around social media alleging that the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force had released the names of informants employed by the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force,” Hammac said. “Knowing that’s obviously not our practice, we investigated and identified the list to have been published by Jeffrey Scott Carter.”

Hammac said Carter “circulated a forged document through Facebook, causing unnecessary alarm within the community as well as from those victims listed on the document.”

Carter is currently on probation for drug-related charges.

At least one other person is being sought for arrest on the charge of obstructing governmental operations in connection with the distribution of the fraudulent list of informants, Hammac said.

“The names that are on this list have not, do not nor will they ever be used as informants for the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force,” Hammac said. “We go above and beyond to safeguard our sources of intelligence that we gather from the community to include citizen complaints.”