Robert Randall “Peanut” Webb Sentenced To 90 Months In Prison For Crack Cocaine Conspiracy

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- Robert Randall “Peanut” Webb, 62, of Newport, Tenn., was sentenced on Jan. 7, 2013, to serve 90 months in prison by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, Senior U.S. District Judge. Webb pleaded guilty on May 1, 2012, to conspiring with others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 280 grams or more of crack cocaine. Upon his release from prison, he will remain on supervised release for five years. He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $100.

Information presented at sentencing established that Webb used his home to conduct what was referred to as a convenience store for illegal drugs, from January 2011 until his arrest in February 2012. The court found that he managed the criminal activity which involved five or more participants including: James Robert Brickner, who previously received a sentence of 151 months in prison; Chelsea Shawntel Meigs, who previously received a sentence of 152 months in prison; and Margo Pondetta Gray, who previously received a sentence of 88 months in prison in the same indictment.

Testimony at sentencing established that Webb’s home served as a centralized location for 50+ drug addicts, who purchased prescription pain pills, heroin, crack cocaine, ecstasy, and morphine. Webb and many of his co-defendants injected illegal drugs intravenously during the period of the conspiracy. The illegal drugs were imported from Knoxville, Nashville, pain clinics in Florida and Georgia, and New York.

William C. Killian, U.S. Attorney, noted, “This investigation removed a fairly large scale drug operation from a residential neighborhood in Newport and demonstrated the effectiveness of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies working together to improve the safety of Tennessee communities.”

The indictment and subsequent conviction of Webb was the result of an investigation conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Newport Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Smith represented the United States at trial.