Laurel County Man and Relatives Sentenced to 23 Years for Methamphetamine Trafficking

LONDON, Ky. — Michael Shane McCormick, Sr., 52, of Corbin, Kentucky, was sentenced Tuesday to 23 years in federal prison, by United States District Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, possessing a firearm in furtherance of that drug trafficking offense, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.  McCormick, Sr.’s sentence was enhanced because his criminal history qualified him as a career offender and armed career criminal. 

A man hunt for Michael Shane McCormick, Jr. led federal investigators to the residence of his father, Michael Shane McCormick, Sr., where they found over 100 grams of methamphetamine and eight loaded firearms, located strategically around the residence that McCormick, Sr. shared with his girlfriend Robin Lawson.  Further investigation revealed that McCormick, Jr. and his girlfriend, Lindsey Johnson, had been importing kilogram quantities of methamphetamine from Georgia to Kentucky, to supply other drug dealers, including Joseph Money (McCormick, Sr.’s brother) and Medgitt Koontz Wood, IV.  McCormick, Sr. pled guilty to the indictment. 

Others conspiring with McCormick, Sr., to obtain and distribute methamphetamine,  have also recently pled guilty and been sentenced, including Michael Shane McCormick, Jr. (188 months), Joseph Money (144 months), Lindsey Johnson (108 months), Medgitt Koontz Wood, IV (92 months), and Robin Lawson (46 months).  Under federal law, the defendants must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences; and upon their release, they will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Stuart Lowrey, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF; Chris Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA; and Richard Sanders, Kentucky State Police Commissioner, jointly made the announcement.  The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew H. Trimble.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.