April 9, 2012
Department of Justice
United States Attorney William C. Killian Eastern District of Tennessee
Jefferson County Husband and Wife Sentenced To Lengthy Prison Terms For Drug Trafficking and Firearm Offenses
Daniel Cole to serve 495 months and Brenda Cole to serve 128 months in federal prison
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Daniel Cole, 53, of Talbott, Tenn., was sentenced today to serve a total of 495 months in prison, 135 months for drug trafficking offenses and a consecutive 360 months for two firearms offenses, followed by six years of supervised release. Brenda Cole, 54, also of Talbott, Tenn., was sentenced on March 23, 2012, to serve a total of 128 months in prison, 68 months for drug trafficking offenses and a consecutive 60 months for a firearm offense, followed by five years of supervised release. Both were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, U.S. District Judge.
On October 17, 2011, the Coles pleaded guilty to a federal grand jury indictment charging them with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and methamphetamine from May 2009 to September 2011; distribution of oxycodone and methamphetamine; and possession of a firearms, including an assault rifle and a sawed-off shotgun, in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said, “Armed drug dealers pose a serious threat to our society. These sentences reflect the serious consequences that the federal judicial system provides for such criminal conduct.”
The indictment and subsequent convictions of Daniel Cole and Brenda Cole were the results of a joint undercover investigation conducted by the Fourth Judicial District Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Dandridge Police Department, Morristown Narcotics Unit and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Lewen, Jr., represented the United States.
