CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On Thursday, October 15, 2020, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell handed down prison sentences ranging from 63 to 200 months in prison, to five individuals for their involvement in a methamphetamine trafficking ring, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

Judge Bell sentenced the defendants as follows:

Jeremy Matthew Magnus, 45, of Granite Falls, N.C. was sentenced to 200 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Magnus pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

John Brooks Miller, of Hickory, N.C., was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Angela Dale, 33, of Morganton, N.C., was sentenced to 97 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Dale pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Bradley Scott Carroll, 37, of Hildebran, N.C., was sentenced to 78 months in prison and four years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

David William Pope, 66, of Connelly Springs, N.C., was sentenced to 63 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Pope pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams of methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

 

According to court documents and the sentencing hearings, from early 2019 to February 2020, Magnus and his co-conspirators trafficked crystal methamphetamine in Caldwell, Catawba and Burke Counties. Magnus was the drug conspiracy’s leader and a supplier of crystal methamphetamine to local drug networks.  Court records show that Magnus and Dale frequently transported methamphetamine from Georgia to the Hickory area. Court records show that the defendants trafficked more than 30 kilograms of methamphetamine. Over the course of this part of the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 1.3 kilograms of methamphetamine.

This case is the result of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation “Dixie Crystal.” Since 2015, Operation Dixie Crystal has resulted in the prosecution of more than 200 individuals, and law enforcement have seized over 20 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, more than $500,000 in U.S. currency and other assets, and dozens of firearms.

OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray recognized the following federal, state and local agencies which partnered in Operation Dixie Crystal, and thanked them for their continued cooperation and support:  the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NC SBI); the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office; the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office; the Burke County Sheriff’s Office; the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office; the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office; the Hickory Police Department; the Jefferson Police Department, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office; and the Mooresville Police Department.

The prosecutions are being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.