Tenth Defendant Pleads Guilty in Methamphetamine Conspiracy

ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – Another member of a conspiracy that trafficked large quantities of methamphetamine from Atlanta 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.

Robert Edward Bowman, 42, pled guilty today to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

“We are seeing large amounts of methamphetamine brought into Southwest Virginia from areas outside of the Commonwealth and we must continue to work to put a stop to it,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “We know other crimes follow methamphetamine addiction, property crime, domestic abuse, child neglect, things that devastate communities. For those reasons alone we must get a handle on this growing problem.”

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

To date, nine other individuals have pled guilty to being part of the conspiracy: Brandin Hyde, 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.