KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Thirty-nine people face indictment in Knox County in connection with a months-long investigation into a drug trafficking organization accused of conspiring to bring hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs into Knox and surrounding counties, records show.
The investigation utilized wiretaps as well as GPS, video, and physical surveillance, prosecutors wrote in a bond motion filed last month in Knox County Criminal Court.
"By combining the intelligence gained through the wiretap and the electronic and physical surveillance of conspirators in the case, agents were able to observe drug trafficking as it took place in real-time at various locations throughout Knox County and surrounding counties," Knox County prosecutors wrote.
Charges in unsealed grand jury indictments range from conspiracy to possess drugs with the intent to sell them to possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony.
The drug trafficking organization brought drugs from Indiana and Georgia, and some members sourced drug trafficking in Virginia, prosecutors alleged in court documents.
The wiretaps recorded some suspects arranging the sales of cocaine, meth and heroin, transcripts showed. In one call, two suspects discussed whether or not to give out samples of the drugs to potential customers. In another call, a suspect's children can be heard in the background, prosecutors said.
The TBI, Knoxville Police Department, Knox County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol, and the 5th Judicial District Drug Task for all participated in the investigation, court documents said.
Charges unsealed against suspects in the case include:
- Melissa Hasty (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Sherry Blair (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Juan Brown (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance, possession with intent to sell a cont. substance, poss. of a firearm during a dangerous felony, and unlawful possession of a weapon)
- James Gilchrist Jr. (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- James Robbins (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance, and possess with intent to sell or deliver a cont. substance)
- Joseph Bobo (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Toshiba Hinton (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Dateshia Goins (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Brad Neubert (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Barbie Swann (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Madonna Hicks (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance)
- Shannon Hipsher (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver, or manufacture a cont. substance, possession with intent to sell or deliver a cont. substance, poss. of a firearm during a dangerous felony, and unlawful possession of a weapon)
- Theodore Anthoniis (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont substance)
- Andrew Shuler (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont substance)
- Steven Gillespie (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance, sale of a cont. substance, and possess with intent to sell a cont. substance)
- David Davis (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance, sale of a cont. substance)
- Clyde Conley (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, deliver or manufacture a cont. substance, sale of a cont. substance)
- Karena Henderson (conspiracy to possess with intent to sell, and possess with intent to sell or deliver a cont. substance)