Currituck County Man Sentenced for Meth Production

RALEIGH – Robert J. Higdon, Jr. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced that in federal court, JOHN EDWARD MUTH, Jr., from Currituck County, North Carolina, was found guilty of one count of Conspiracy to Manufacture, Distribute, Dispense, and Possess With Intent to Distribute a Quantity of Methamphetamine from October 2016 to January 2017.  Today, Senior United States District Judge W. Earl Britt, III sentenced MUTH to 48 months imprisonment in the Federal Bureau of Prisons followed by 3 years of supervised release.

In October 2016, a Currituck County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) detective received information from a confidential informant (CI), that they had observed the manufacturing of methamphetamine (meth) taking place at a residence on Rattle Ridge Lane in Maple, North Carolina.  The occupants of the residence were identified as JOHN EDWARD MUTH, JR., and codefendant Brook Anne White.  White is awaiting sentencing scheduled for June 4, 2018. 

Investigation by the CCSO determined that MUTH had visited numerous pharmacies in Northeast North Carolina and Southern Virginia in an effort to acquire pseudoephedrine.  A search of the residence found components used to make methamphetamine and equipment to distribute these substances.

Manufacturing methamphetamine requires pseudoephedrine, found in over-the-counter cold medicine, as well as other commonly found ingredients.  Information obtained from the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx), which monitors the purchase of pseudoephedrine, revealed that between September 2015 and December 2016, MUTH made 26 purchases of pseudoephedrine (149.76 grams of pseudoephedrine). Notably, MUTH was released from prison in August 2015.  The investigation also determined that others would obtain pseudoephedrine and would give it to MUTH for the purposes of making methamphetamine.

The manufacturing of methamphetamine is a serious crime that brings violence and addiction to our communities.  The Federal and North Carolina law enforcement partnership is committed to aggressively prosecuting the criminals who make and deal this dangerous drug.

The case was investigated by the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.  The federal prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Edward D. Gray.