Two Tennessee Men Convicted of Pharmacy Burglary and Drug Trafficking

Case involved dozens of pharmacy burglaries across the Southeast and trafficking in the stolen pills

LONDON, Ky. – Two men from Grundy County, Tennessee were convicted Friday, by a federal jury sitting in London, of a conspiracy to break into pharmacies across the southeast United States and subsequently sell the stolen pills, including oxycodone and hydrocodone.           

After a day-and-a-half of deliberations, following a four-day trial, the jury convicted 51-year-old James “Ronnie” Jones and 41-year-old Tony Britton of conspiracy to distribute Schedule II controlled substances.  The jury also convicted Britton of the burglary of Stephanie’s Down Home Pharmacy in Corbin, on January 26, 2014.             

According to testimony at trial, Jones and Britton worked with others to steal oxycodone and other pills from small, independent pharmacies through nighttime burglaries. The stolen pills would then be sold primarily in central Tennessee.  The evidence revealed that the conspiracy was responsible for many dozens of burglaries across a five-year span, including several in eastern and western Kentucky.             

Both Jones and Britton were indicted in November 2017.           

Co-defendants Robert Nunley, 46, Christopher Land, 56, Anthony Bosio, 45, Randy Stiefel, 54, Kenneth Britton, 40, and Jamie Sweeton, 43, were also indicted and have all pleaded guilty.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; D. Christopher Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Louisville Field Division; David Rausch, Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Clint Shrum, Sherriff of Grundy County, Tennessee, jointly announced the convictions.

The investigation was conducted by the DEA, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with several local police departments. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Rosenberg. 

Jones and Britton will appear for sentencing on February 19, 2019.  Jones faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and Britton faces a maximum of 40 years in prison.  However, the Court must consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal statutes before imposing the sentence.