Madison County Man Sentenced to 21 Years for His Involvement in a Drug Trafficking Organization

Jackson, TN – Xavier Demetrius James, 35, of Jackson, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 252 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute over 50 grams of actual methamphetamine. D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, in March 2017, DEA agents began an investigation into Rolando Lopez and his drug trafficking organization. Agents discovered that Lopez and other co-conspirators were trafficking in methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and other illegal substances from Texas to Tennessee. Investigators utilized six Title III wiretaps along with surveillance, confidential sources, traffic stops, and search warrants to investigate this drug trafficking organization, which was responsible for trafficking hundreds of pounds of actual methamphetamine.

James was found to have taken part in this conspiracy. He helped transport four loads of actual methamphetamine totaling around 45 kilograms to co-defendant Ronald Parham's residence in mid-2017, and he was found in possession of 20 kilograms of actual methamphetamine during a traffic stop in the Atlanta, Georgia area on November 27, 2017. It was later determined that James was there to buy methamphetamine while on his way to Knoxville, Tennessee, to distribute the drugs to others when he was stopped by the police. In all, James was held responsible for distributing or possessing with the intent to distribute 75 kilograms of actual methamphetamine.

On December 15, 2020, Chief U.S. District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced James to 252 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Use and trafficking of methamphetamine continues to destroy lives, families, and communities across West Tennessee. The joint cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement in this case demonstrates our ability and resolve to dismantle drug trafficking organizations, including those that distribute narcotics from locations outside the country. The significant sentence in this case sends a clear message to those drug dealers who distribute poison in West Tennessee: You cannot prey upon our citizens for your selfish personal gain with impunity; there will be a reckoning."

This is the latest sentencing in a case involving multiple defendants including Rolando Lopez, Saul Vega Flores, Virginia Torres, Ronald Lynn Parham, Tammy Ranger, Marcus Jones, and Xavier Demetrius James on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

On July 9, 2019, Chief U.S. District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Lopez to life in federal prison to be followed by five years supervised release.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtn/pr/rio-grande-texas-man-sentenced-life-imprisonment-conspiracy-distribute-methamphetamine.

Co-defendant Ronald Parham was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison followed by three years supervised release.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtn/pr/kenton-tennessee-man-sentenced-200-months-conspiracy-distribute-methamphetamine

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigated this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josh Morrow and Jerry Kitchen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

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