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Department of Justice United States Attorney David L. Huber Contact: Sandy Focken |
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July 10, 2008
DAVIESS COUNTY DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS FOR TRAFFICKING IN METHAMPHETAMINE
– Two previous felony records
– Drugs had a street value of $50,000
OWENSBORO, KY - Jerry Richardson, age 27, of Philpot, Kentucky, in Daviess County, was sentenced on March 6, 2008 to 10 years imprisonment in United States District Court, Owensboro, Kentucky, for trafficking in methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney David L. Huber of the Western District of Kentucky and Paul Vido, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Louisville Field Division, jointly announced today. Joseph H. McKinley, Jr., Judge, United States District Court, also sentenced Richardson to five years’ supervised release following incarceration. There is no parole in the federal judicial system.
Richardson, who pled guilty on December 13, 2007, admitted that he and co-defendants John E. Stewart, Robert Wettstain, and Wesley Higdon, conspired with each other to possess with the intent to distribute and did distribute methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $50,000.
Higdon pled guilty on September 27, 2007 and was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release. Both Stewart and Wettstain were found guilty by a jury after a three-day trial. They are scheduled to be sentenced before Judge McKinley on March 27, 2008 at 9:00 a.m., in Owensboro, Kentucky.
From February 2004 until December 2006, Richardson purchased significant amounts of methamphetamine from Robert Wettstain. Richardson would then use some of the methamphetamine and re-sell the rest. Richardson had purchased several ounces of crystal methamphetamine from Wettstain each month during a seven month period from May to December 2006. Richardson would pay Wettstain between $2,800 and $3,200 per ounce of meth, depending on the purity.
Wettstain provided approximately 10.5 grams of methamphetamine to Richardson on December 17, 2006, when Wettstain came to Richardon’s house in Philpot, Kentucky. On December 18, 2006, Wettstain came to Richardon’s house and transferred approximately 3.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine for Richardson to re-sell for $300 on behalf of Wettstain. During a search of Richardson’s residence, law enforcement officers seized the 10.5 grams of crystal meth.
Richardson has two prior felony convictions, one in 2002 for trafficking in marijuana and one in 2004 for possession of a controlled substance.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Kilmartin. The Bowling Green Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation in partnership with the Audubon Area Gun Task Force, as part of ATF’s mandated mission to reduce violent crime and other threats to public safety.
This is a Project Backfire prosecution. Project Backfire is a partnership of state, local and federal law enforcement which targets violent offenders for prosecution to the fullest extent of state and federal law.
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