Cherokee, N.C. Man Is Sentenced To Prison For Trafficking Methamphetamine

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced a Cherokee, North Carolina man for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Edward Dwayne Taylor, who is 35 years old and an Enrolled Member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was ordered to serve 87 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Chief Carla Neadeau of the Cherokee Indian Police Department (CIPD) joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and court proceedings, on June 4, 2021, a CIPD officer conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle in Cherokee, knowing that the driver was operating the vehicle with a suspended license. Taylor was one of the passengers in the vehicle. Over the course of the traffic stop, law enforcement recovered from another passenger a bag that contained more than 130 grams of methamphetamine, digital scales, and small plastic baggies, items that are consistent with drug distribution. Court documents show that over the course of the investigation CIPD officers determined that the methamphetamine belonged to Taylor, and that the other passenger had agreed to hide the drugs at Taylor’s request.

Taylor is in federal custody. He will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked CIPD for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pritchard of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.