A judge sentenced a convicted pill dealer for 12 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Calvin Lyndell Dibrell, 52, of Knoxville was convicted of possession with intent to sell and deliver oxycodone, hydrocodone and alprazolam in a drug-free school zone during a June trial.
In February 2014, Knoxville Police Department officers found Dibrell in a black Chrysler 300 at a Magnolia Avenue Walgreens. A police K9 could smell narcotics, and officers found oxycodone, hydrocodone and alprazolam, according to the Knox County District Attorney General's Office.
Dibrell said he had a prescription for the medication, but police learned that prescription was from years ago and didn't match the pills he was carrying.
District Attorney General Charme Allen linked illegal diversion of pills to the current opiate epidemic in the United States. Dozens of people have died already this year from opiate overdoses in Knox County, according to Allen.
Dibrell has a long criminal record that allows prosecutors to seek a longer sentence than he might normally face. Convictions include attempted first-degree murder, cocaine distribution and aggravated burglary.
