Leader of Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization Sentenced to 30 Years Imprisonment

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced today that Shawn Wayne Farris, 54, of Rancho Mirage, Calif., was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment today in U.S. District Court in Abingdon.  Farris had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, in early 2017, Operation California Dreaming began investigating the trafficking of methamphetamine between California, Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. As a result of that investigation, 28 individuals, located in California, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee, were charged as being members of a drug trafficking organization responsible for the distribution of large quantities of methamphetamine.  Charges levied against these individuals included both drug and firearms offenses.  Farris was the leader of this drug trafficking organization and was responsible for arranging the shipment and transportation of extremely pure methamphetamine from his home in California to Bristol, Virginia, Bristol, Tennessee and Abingdon, Virginia.  Farris also established a large number of distributors to sell the methamphetamine to users in these communities.

In addition to Farris, to date, 26 members charged in the conspiracy have pleaded guilty or been found guilty. One defendant remains a fugitive:

1. Sean Phillip Maidlow – 300 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
2. Jair Medina Gutierrez - Fugitive
3. Lacey Cheri Weir – 300 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
4. Andrea Nichole Stickel  - 210 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
5. James Nicholas Howington – 168 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
6. James Robert Johnson – 151 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
7. Stephen A. Graham – 84 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
8. Christopher Lee Smiley – 64 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
9. Joshua Todd Chapman – 168 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
10. Saleemah Lashawn Roberson – 108 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
11. Donald Zachary Snyder – 270 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 Grams or more of methamphetamine, distribute methamphetamine, and possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
12. James Skyler Sebastian – To Be Sentenced
13. Larry Levi Bennett – 235 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
14. Terry Melvin Dalton – 120 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and distribute methamphetamine.
15. Heather Ashley Davis – 120 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
16. Brianna Nicole Woodby – 60 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
17. Donald Shane Hawthorne – 144 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
18. Gary Lee McFarlane – 135 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and distribute methamphetamine
19. Elizabeth Pauline Eaton – 168 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
20.  Matthew Todd Mullins – 188 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, distribute methamphetamine, and manufacture counterfeit United States currency.
21. Anthony Chadwick Harless -108 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
22. Kimberly Ann Drake – 210 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
23. Brandon Heath Whitt – 108 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
24. Melissa Darlene Barrett – 168 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and distribute methamphetamine.
25. Susan Nicole Payne – 87 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and distribute methamphetamine
26. Bradley Scott Williams – 204 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
27.  Devon Scott Coleman – 211 months imprisonment, conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possess 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, and possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

The investigation of the case was conducted the Abingdon Police Department, Virginia State Police, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Bristol, Tennessee Police Department, Bristol, Virginia Police Department, the Sullivan County, Tennessee Second Judicial Drug Task Force, Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department, Commerce, Georgia Police Department, New Jersey State Police, United States Postal Inspection Service, United States Marshals Service, United States Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The Washington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Bristol, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, and the Sullivan County, District Attorney’s Office have assisted in the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Zachary T. Lee and Cagle Juhan prosecuted the case for the United States.