Husband and Wife from Knoxville Sentenced for Roles in Heroin and Meth Conspiracies

ABINGDON, Va. – A Knoxville, Tennessee couple, who conspired with others to traffic heroin and methamphetamine into Lee County, Virginia, were sentenced today to lengthy prison terms.

Billie Jo McGuire, 30, and her husband, Billy Justin King, 30, both pled guilty in October 2022 to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, and one count of possession with the intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine.  Billy King also pled guilty to possessing a firearm in possession of a drug trafficking crime.

Today, King was sentenced to 15 years in prison and McGuire was sentenced to 24 months.

McGuire and King conspired with Robert Earl Warr, Robert Lee Jenkins, and others, including John Joel Foster, Ray Anthony McSwain, Garrett Lee Teffeteller, Darin Thomas, and David Edward Farmer, to sell heroin and methamphetamine in and around Lee County, Virginia, and the Knoxville, Tennessee area.

According to court documents, as part of the broader conspiracy, King and McGuire trafficked methamphetamine and heroin from Eastern Tennessee into Lee County, Virginia for redistribution. While King was the ‘leader’ between the pair, McGuire assisted her husband’s drug activities by weighing the drugs, counting money, answering King’s cell phone, and coordinating drug customers.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and Craig B. Kailimai, Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, made the announcement.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office, the Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force, the Knoxville, Tennessee Police Department, the Knox County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office, the Sevier County, Tennessee Sheriff’s Office, and the Lee County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lena L. Busscher prosecuted the case for the United States.