DEKALB COUNTY – An ongoing drug investigation by special agents with the Drug Investigation Division of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of multiple additional law enforcement partner agencies, has resulted in the indictment and arrest of nine people on various drug-related charges.
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On April 4, 2022, Lynn Richard Norton, 62, currently of Russellville, Tennessee, was sentenced to 240 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Juan Lopez Gallardo, 44, Jairo David Posadas, 22, Josedad Delacruz, 24, Serguin Castro-Carias, 20, all of Sevier County, Tennessee, and Nolvia Rosme Carillo-Rodriguez, 42, and Pablo Daniel Suarez, 32, both of Miami, Florida, were arrested on a complaint on September 30, 2021 by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI").
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– On July 1, 2021, Katrina S. Carinci, 28, of Knoxville, TN, was sentenced to 125 months imprisonment by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.
A federal grand jury in Chattanooga, Tennessee returned a two-count indictment on November 24, 2020 against James J. Martin, Lee Antonio Clements Jr., and Ricky Harper, all of Chattanooga, for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.
Trooper Ryan Fletcher was recognized by the Tennessee Narcotics Officers Association for what authorities say is the largest area cocaine seizure so far this year.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper is being honored for his work catching a Mexican man who authorities say was trying to sneak 20 kilos of cocaine into East Tennessee -- the biggest such drug haul of the year in the state.
Ryan Fletcher stopped Luis Daniel Hernandez Mendoza the morning of April 29 on Interstate 75 at mile marker 82 driving an 2011 Audi Q7 SUV.
Knoxville, Tenn. – On September 24, 2020, the United States Attorney’s Office filed a federal complaint charging two individuals, Michael Allen Hill, 45, and Heavyn Breanne Thomas, 23, both from Knoxville, TN, with conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, one kilogram or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin, a Schedule I controlled substance, and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.
BLOUNTVILLE — Between March 1 and Aug. 1, 22 people died in Sullivan County as the result of drug overdoses, often from using heroin laced with other drugs, with fentanyl having become a common lethal additive.
That startling figure was among information shared on Friday by District Attorney General Barry Staubus, 2nd Judicial District (Sullivan County), and other members of the Sullivan County Drug Related Death Task Force.
Knoxville, Tenn. – A federal jury returned a guilty verdict against four defendants for their roles in running “pill mills,” announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowksi of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U. S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey of the Eastern District of Tennessee.
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On June 3, 2019, Brandon Lee Alexander, 36 of Morristown, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Judge, to serve 216 months in federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; possession with the intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Alexander was also denied his request for a new trial.