Knoxville Man Indicted for Cocaine Conspiracy Charge

Knoxville, Tenn. – On September 4, 2019, a federal grand jury in Knoxville returned a single count indictment against the following individual alleging a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute crack cocaine:

Mahlon Tyron Prater, 22, of Knoxville, Tennessee

The case is set in front of Chief United States District Judge Pamela L. Reeves.  If convicted of the cocaine distribution conspiracy charge, Prater faces up to 20 years in prison, at least 3 years of supervised release, a fine of up to $1,000,000, criminal forfeiture, and a $100 special assessment.

FBI Agents and Knoxville Police Officers are looking for Prater. Prater goes by the street name “Moe.”  Prater stands 5’ 10” inches and weighs 165 pounds.  He is known to carry firearms. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI’s Knoxville Field Office at (865) 544-0751 or the Knoxville Police Department at (865) 215-7212.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment constitutes only charges and that Prater is presumed innocent until his guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.                                                                  

This case was investigated by the FBI Safe Streets and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Forces.  These task forces are comprised of police officers from the Knoxville and Kingston Police Departments, Sheriff’s Deputies from the Knox, Blount, Sevier, Roane and Loudoun County Sheriff’s Offices and prosecutors from the District Attorney General’s Offices and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.  These task forces are resource multipliers for crime-fighting efforts in East Tennessee, leveraging law enforcement resources to fight the most violent criminals in the area.  Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Quencer will represent the United States.

The investigation is a result of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.