A West Tennessee man was recently sentenced to 35 years in federal prison after being found guilty on four counts of a seven-count indictment for trafficking methamphetamine.
Preston Antwan McNeal, 36, of Jackson formed and led a large methamphetamine trafficking operation in West Tennessee, according to a press release by the Western District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
During a traffic stop in 2017 on McNeal’s vehicle – which contained a total of $1,281 in cash, a drug ledger, and a digital scale – he threw a bag containing 44 grams of methamphetamine, 16 grams of cocaine, and one gram of crack cocaine into a nearby yard, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, citing information presented in court
McNeal was arrested two years later in 2019 during a traffic stop, where a deputy with the Chester County Sheriff’s Department found a baggie under the driver’s seat containing 14.3 grams of methamphetamine, plus $3,000 in cash in the front passenger floorboard during a search of the vehicle.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also added that a passenger riding in the car that was pulled over in 2019 later testified at trial that McNeal gave her four baggies of methamphetamine to hide on her person. A co-conspirator of McNeal also testified in court that McNeal provided them with over 5 kilograms of methamphetamine for redistribution between late 2017 and February 2019.
McNeal’s 35 year (420 months) imprisonment will be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Federal prisoners do not have the option of parole.
Methamphetamine, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), is a Schedule II stimulant under the Controlled Substances Act, which means that it has a high potential for abuse. When taken in large doses, the drug can elevate body temperature to dangerous and lethal levels, and cause convulsions, cardiovascular collapse, and death, the DEA notes.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Background Photo “Courtroom” by Carol M. Highsmith.
