North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine, Gun Charge

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – A North Carolina man, who traveled from North Carolina to Carroll County, Virginia to sell methamphetamine,  pled guilty today to federal drug and firearms charges, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced.

Mack Daniel Barton, 37, of Laurel Hill, N.C., pled guilty this morning in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke to one count of possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

“Methamphetamine continues to ravage communities all throughout Southwest Virginia and remains a top priority for law enforcement across the Commonwealth,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today.

According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Ashely B. Neese, Barton traveled from N.C. to Carroll County to sell methamphetamine to what he thought was a customer but what was actually a confidential informant for law enforcement. During this transaction, Barton was arrested and found to be in possession of a firearm.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Virginia State Police, the Carroll County Sheriff Office, the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office and the Galax Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Ashely B. Neese prosecuted the case for the United States.