Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Misbranding Charge

ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – A Elizabethton, Tennessee man pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to a drug misbranding charge, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today.

Cecil A. McConnell III, 44, of Elizabethton, Tenn., was charged in a superseding indictment returned in October 2015 with a number of drug-related charges. Today in District Court, McConnell pled guilty to one count of misbranding a drug.

“The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to be vigilant in the prosecution of all illegal drugs, including analogues and other misbranded substances,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today.

At sentencing, McConnell faces a maximum possible penalty of up to three years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. The sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Virginia State Police, the Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force in Big Stone Gap, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Alachua County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office and the Scott County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Lee is prosecuting the case for the United States.