Wise County Man Sentenced for Role in Methamphetamine Conspiracy

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – Joseph Andrew Hobbs, a Wise County man who was one of 20 defendants charged with conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Abingdon to 228 months in federal prison, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.

Hobbs, 28, pled guilty in August 2019 to one count of conspiring to distribute and possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, the 20 defendants conspired to distribute methamphetamine in Lee and Wise counties, and elsewhere, between July 1, 2016 and May 1, 2019. To date, all 20 defendants have been convicted via plea agreement or jury trial. Hobbs is the second defendant to be sentenced. On December 18, 2019, Susan Adrianna Mullins was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison.

A complete list of the defendants and charges can be found here.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force, which is comprised of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Wise County Sheriff’s Office, Dickenson County Sheriff’s Office, Norton Police Department, Big Stone Gap Police Department, and the Virginia State Police.  Assistant United States Attorneys Lena Busscher, Anthony P. Giorno, Jonathan Jones, and Zachary T. Lee prosecuted the case for the United States.