Three Sentenced In Vast Oxycodone Conspiracy

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On Jan. 13, 2014, Jason Curtis Jones, 36, of Elizabethton, Tenn., was sentenced to serve 78 months in prison; Michael Lelon Sharp, 50, of Blountville, Tenn., was sentenced to serve 72 months in prison; and Donnie Ray Horne, 55, of Kingsport, Tenn., was sentenced to serve 71 months in prison by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Court Judge, for their participation in an oxycodone conspiracy centered in and around the Sullivan County area.

A total of 17 individuals, including the three sentenced today, were indicted for their roles in this oxycodone trafficking conspiracy. Many of the pills were obtained from Michigan, Florida and Georgia and transported back to the Eastern District of Tennessee for resale. Jones and Sharp stipulated that they conspired to distribute at least 6,544 and 4,300 oxycodone pills respectively in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Horne was also convicted of engaging in a money laundering conspiracy used to further the oxycodone trafficking. Horne assisted his son, Devin Horne, 24, of Blountville, Tenn., who was also indicted, in collecting drug debts, selling oxycodone, wiring money to drug suppliers in Michigan and smuggling drugs into jail. Devin Horne is scheduled to be sentenced in April 2014.

Law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation which led to the indictment and subsequent convictions of Jones, Sharp and Horne include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Kingsport Police Department, Bristol Tennessee Police Department and Elizabethton Police Department, all of which provided invaluable assistance during the course of the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Taylor represented the United States.

U.S. Attorney William C. Killian stated, “We are pleased with the sentences in these case and believe they reflects the seriousness of the crimes committed.”