Tennessee store owner charged with meth conspiracy

Store owner charged with meth conspiracy

Crossville Chronicle
By Michael R. Moser/Editor
April 29, 2010

CROSSVILLE — A multi-county, multi-agency investigation into trafficking of components used in the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine has led to the door step of a Loudon County feed store owner who was indicted this week by a federal grand jury.


The investigation originated in Cumberland County and quickly led local investigators to adjoining counties. Sheriff's investigators then sought the help of federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice, and months of undercover operations culminated into the arrest this week.


Charged in the multi-county federal indictment is Eugene Allen Trent, 50, of Lenoir City.


He faces charges of conspiring to manufacture more than five hundred grams of methamphetamine, conspiring to distribute iodine knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it would be used to manufacture meth, and eight counts of distribution of iodine knowing or having reasonable cause to believe it would be used to manufacture methamphetamine.


"For the past three years or so, my investigators have told me that nearly all of the iodine they were finding in labs in our county were coming from the same place," Sheriff Butch Burgess said Thursday. "This caused us to take a second look at that aspect of the meth problem and investigators were able to trace the iodine sales back to the source."


Trent is scheduled to appear in court April 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan K. Lee in Chattanooga. A trial date has yet to be set, according to a press release issued by the Department of Justice.


If convicted on the methamphetamine conspiracy charge, Trent could be facing a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison, up to a maximum of life in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of $4 million and up to ten years in prison on each of the iodine charges.


U.S. District Attorney James R. (Russ) Dedrick applauded the efforts of the multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency investigation probe. In addition to DEA and Cumberland County sheriff's investigators, the Loudon, Rhea and Roane county sheriff's departments, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Meth Task Force were involved in the investigation.


The probe has been ongoing for over the past year and it has involved numerous undercover purchases, two federal search warrants, numerous traffic stops and other investigation techniques developed by the Tennessee Meth Task Force, the press release stated.


The indictment, which remains sealed, also includes numerous other individuals in the Eastern District of Tennessee who have been charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and other related violations.


"There has been a resurgence of methamphetamine manufacturing in the Eastern District of Tennessee and the cooperative spirit of these sheriff's departments and other agencies is an excellent example of the type of effort needed to combat this very serious problem," Dedrick said in the release.


Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry H. Piper will represent the United States in prosecution of the case.


The Department of Justice, in the release, stated that the public should be reminded that an indictment constitutes only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven in court.