Cherokee, N.C. Man Sentenced TO More Than Nine Years In Prison In Connection With Oxycodone Distribution Ring

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger today sentenced Jackie Lee Rattler, 55, of Cherokee, N.C. 108 months in prison on drug trafficking conspiracy charges, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Rattler was also ordered to serve three years under court supervision upon completion of his prison term.

U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by John S. Comer, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the North Carolina; Charles Addington, Deputy Associate Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Division of Drug Enforcement; Chief Ben Reed of the Cherokee Indian Police Department; Sheriff Curtis Cochran of the Swain County Sheriff’s Office; Sheriff Mickey Anderson of the Graham County Sheriff’s Office; and Sheriff Jimmy Ashe of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

According to filed court documents and today’s proceedings, Rattler and his co-defendants were involved in the trafficking of narcotics, including Oxycodone, cocaine, marijuana and Alprazolam in Swain and Jackson Counties. At today’s sentencing hearing, Rattler was found to be accountable for trafficking 477.20 grams Oxycodone, 3.05 kilograms of marijuana and 56.2 grams of cocaine. During the investigation, law enforcement also seized 42 firearms, including two Ruger M77 II rifles and a Smith & Wesson 66 Revolver. In September 2013, Rattler pleaded guilty to six counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of being a controlled substance user in possession of firearms.

Rattler’s co-defendants have already been sentenced: Mark Allen Winstead was sentenced to 38 months; Timothy Leroy Rattler was sentenced to 18 months; Jacob Hunter Rattler was sentenced to 15 months; Taryn Krista Elizabeth Toineeta Rattler was sentenced to 70 months in prison and Evan Thomas Norris, Jr. was sentenced to 19 months in prison.

Jackie Rattler has been in federal custody since June 2013. He will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

U.S. Attorney Tompkins thanked all the law enforcement agencies involved in these investigations for their continued cooperation and assistance. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pritchard, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.