Tuesday, August 4, 2009

MORRISTOWN, TENN] -- A press conference will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, August 4, 2009, on the first floor of the City Center, 100 West First North St, Morristown, Tennessee.

The purpose of the press conference is to announce the federal indictment of 32 people from the Morristown area on 103 separate count, on federal conspiracy charges involving the distribution and the possession with the intent to distribute large amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine within the Eastern District of Tennessee and elsewhere. In addition to the conspiracy charges, numerous defendants were also charged with money laundering offenses, possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and maintaining a residence for the purpose of manufacturing and/or storing crack cocaine.

This indictment is the result of a multi-state, multi-agency investigation, which targeted a sophisticated drug trafficking and money laundering organization responsible for multiple kilogram amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine being supplied from the Atlanta, Georgia area through Mexican drug suppliers, and distributed in and around Morristown, Tennessee. Agencies involved with the investigation include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Johnson City, Tennessee; FBI’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force; Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force in Atlanta, Georgia; Morristown Police Department; Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office; and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Assistance was also rendered by the Atlanta Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and United States Attorney’s Offices in the Northern Districts of Georgia and Florida. Assistant United States Attorney Wayne Taylor represents the United States in this OCDETF investigation and prosecution.