Johnson City Resident Sentenced to Serve Over Eight Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine and Firearms Offenses

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On April 6, 2017, Joey Edward Holmes, 39, of Johnson City, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, U.S. District Judge, to serve 100 months in federal prison. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years. Holmes was also ordered pay $200 special assessments.

Holmes pleaded guilty in December 2016 to conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to information on file with the U.S. District Court, , who was part of a larger conspiracy, produced methamphetamine using pseudoephedrine supplied to him by others. When he was arrested on the methamphetamine charges, officers found a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, ammunition, crystal methamphetamine, digital scales, hundreds of small plastic zipper bags and other items consistent with a drug lab in his home. has been in federal custody since his April 2016 arrest.

Agencies involved in this investigation included the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Greg Bowman and Helen Smith, represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a comprehensive national strategy that creates local partnerships with law enforcement agencies to effectively enforce existing gun laws. It provides more options to prosecutors, allowing them to utilize local, state, and federal laws to ensure that criminals who commit gun crime face tough sentences. PSN gives each federal district the flexibility it needs to focus on individual challenges that a specific community faces.

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