Weakley County Woman Sentenced to Eight Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Methamphetamine

Jackson, TN – United States District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced a Weakley County woman to 96 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release following her guilty plea to possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.  Kevin Ritz, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

“Methamphetamine trafficked in and through West Tennessee is approaching dangerous levels of purity, and continues to destroy individuals, families, and communities,” said U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz.  “Drug dealers who profit from the pain, addiction, violence, and death caused by these dangerous substances deserve proper punishment. This defendant had a very brief criminal history, but the sheer volume of the drugs that she sold commanded the strong response reflected in the sentence imposed by the Court."

There is no parole in the federal system.

According to information presented in court, law enforcement officers became aware in July 2021 that Amy Marie Mitchell, 34, of Dresden, TN and her co-defendant, Robert Warren Gearin, were distributing crystal methamphetamine – any form of the drug that is 80 percent or higher in purity – in and around Weakley County. Investigators worked with a confidential informant on July 15, 2021 to purchase approximately 13 grams of crystal methamphetamine from someone who had obtained the drugs from Mitchell and Gearin’s home in Dresden. 

On October 21, 2021, officers executed a search warrant at the defendants’ residence and seized close to 400 grams of methamphetamine, plastic baggies, three sets of digital scales, a Taurus TX .22 caliber pistol with matching ammunition, and a police scanner.  The Drug Enforcement Administration laboratory later confirmed that the methamphetamine seized from the defendants’ home weighed 393.27 grams and was 97 percent pure.  Officers learned through witnesses and additional investigation that over a four-month period Mitchell and Gearin sold approximately four pounds of methamphetamine in the Weakley County area. 

On March 6, 2023, Mitchell pled guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).  Gearin entered a guilty plea to similar charges and is awaiting sentencing. 

The Weakley Co. Sheriff’s Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 27th Judicial District Drug Task Force, and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated this case. 

United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked Assistant United States Attorney Josh Morrow who prosecuted this case on behalf of the government, as well as the law enforcement partners.