Leader of Laurel and Whitley County Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 17 Years

LONDON, Ky. — April Sizemore Bowling, 31, of Corbin, Kentucky, was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in federal prison, by United States District Judge Robert E. Wier, for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. 

A federal investigation revealed that, for more than a year, Bowling lead a drug trafficking organization that was importing kilogram quantities of methamphetamine into the Eastern District of Kentucky, from a source of supply in Georgia.  Bowling worked together with Jeffrey Cole, Jessica Flannery, and Melody LeMar to obtain, transport, and sell that methamphetamine in Laurel, Whitley, and Clay counties.  The conspiracy was responsible for bringing in excess of 45 kilograms of methamphetamine from Georgia to Kentucky. 

Bowling, Cole, LeMar, and Flannery pled guilty to the charges against them earlier this year.  Cole was previously sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, while LeMar and Flannery were each sentenced to 38 months and 33 months, respectively.  Under federal law, the defendants must serve 85 percent of their prison sentence; 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; Michael Christman, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI; Chris Evans, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration; Derrick House, Chief of the London Police Department; and John Root, Laurel County Sheriff, jointly made the announcement.  The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew H. Trimble.