GREENEVILLE, Tenn, - Guadalupe Granado ,37, of Bybee, Tenn., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court, Greeneville, by the Honorable Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Judge, to serve 240 months in prison for his role in managing and supervising a large scale methamphetamine conspiracy. Co-defendants Marco Antonio Rivera, Abel Martinez Tavera, and Placido Ventura Mendoza of Winston Salem, N.C., and Elias Mazariegos Perez of Newport, Tenn., have already been sentenced by Judge Greer to serve 292, 186, 174 and 180 months in prison respectively. Granado was the final defendant charged in the conspiracy case to be sentenced.

In March 2010, an undercover agent made multiple methamphetamine purchases from Granado before negotiating for a 10 to 20 pound methamphetamine transaction. In numerous recorded conversations which were introduced during the trial of co-defendant Tavera, Granado told the agent he needed to coordinate with “his people” to obtain and deliver the methamphetamine. Rivera was Granado’s source of supply. In May 2010, in Hamblen County, Tenn., agents conducted traffic stops on several vehicles known to be involved in transporting and distributing the methamphetamine. Three of the vehicles were searched and agents discovered ten pounds of methamphetamine under roofing nails in the back bed of a pickup truck, and a 9 mm firearm in another vehicle. From a separate vehicle, Rivera and Granado were directing the other participants on how to complete the transaction. Rivera, Granado, Mendoza, Tavera and Perez were arrested. All were determined to be in the country illegally and, in fact, Granado had been deported from the United States previously after he was convicted of another felony drug offense.

Law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation which led to indictment and subsequent conviction of Granado include the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, Johnson City, assisted by Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Third Judicial Drug Task Force, Fourth Judicial Drug Task Force, Morristown Police Department, Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office, Cocke County Sheriff’s Office, Johnson City Police Department, Elizabethton Police Department, Kingsport Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Tennessee Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Taylor represented the United States.

P U.S. Attorney Bill Killian stated, “Our prosecutors and the federal and state law enforcement agencies working on this case did a great job of obtaining and presenting the evidence. The arrest and convictions in this case resulted in the elimination of massive quantities of methamphetamine being distributed in the Eastern District of Tennessee. I want to thank all those involved in bringing these individuals to justice.”

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