Ninth Defendant Pleads Guilty in Methamphetamine Conspiracy

ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – The ninth member of a methamphetamine conspiracy that trafficked large quantities of the drug from Atlanta, Georgia to Southwest, Virginia, pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today.

Brandin Travis Hyde, 38, pled guilty today to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

“Methamphetamine is being brought into the Western District of Virginia in waves and is devastating our communities,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “We will continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to dismantle large, wide-ranging distribution conspiracies like the one this defendant was involved with.”

According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, Hyde was part of a methamphetamine conspiracy that transported and distributed multiple pounds of crystal methamphetamine between Atlanta, Georgia, Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

In April 2015, Hyde was interviewed in Bristol, Virginia and admitted that on multiple occasions he accompanied Jeremy Bartley to Atlanta, Georgia to pick up five ounces of crystal methamphetamine. Hyde also admitted to carrying a firearm trafficking in methamphetamine. Hyde returned to Southwest Virginia with the methamphetamine and further distributed it to others.

To date, eight other individuals have pled guilty to being part of the conspiracy. Dawn Rossalyn Vincente, Summer Deborah Booher, Dakota Wayne Barker, Carrie Taylor, Jeffrey Bruce Bartley, Stacey Lee Doane, Melissa Mendora Harless and Connie Diane Strouth have each pled guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bristol, Virginia Police Department, the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department, the Abingdon Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee prosecuted the case for the United States.