A group of 21 individuals in and around Maury County and Lewis County have pleaded guilty to federal drug distribution charges, according to the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
21 Plead Guilty To Federal Charges In Maury https://t.co/OWQqtHlpA3
— U.S Attorney-Middle District of Tennessee (@USAO_MDTN) June 8, 2023
From March 2018 to September 2019, the following 14 individuals were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine by way of an indictment returned in December 2021, according to the Attorney’s Office:
- Julio Esparza, aka Beto, 46 (McAllen, TX);
- Freddy Quinones, 49 (McAllen, TX);
- Jesus Silva, aka Barbas, 41 (McAllen, TX);
- Brandon Dailey, aka Willie Earl, deceased (Mount Pleasant, TN);
- Henry Davis, aka Hank, 43 (Mount Pleasant, TN);
- Vincent Conner, aka Roe, 38 (Mount Pleasant, TN);
- Derrick Nixon, aka Chewy, 55 (Mount Pleasant, TN);
- Shanika Odom, aka Butterball, 32 (Mount Pleasant, TN);
- Terry Strayhorn, aka Goldie Mac, 42 (Mount Pleasant, TN);
- Samuel Abernathy, 45 (Mount Pleasant, TN);
- Brent Burns, aka Smiley, 39 (Columbia, TN);
- Tristen Tisby, aka Jolly, 31 (Columbia, TN);
- Tory Hardison, 28 (Pulaski, TN); and
- Carson Lunn, 26 (Pulaski, TN)
An additional indictment charged the following seven individuals with conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, and oxycodone between October 2017 and November 2020, according to the attorney’s office:
- Michael Sowell, aka Mac Black, 38 (Hohenwald, TN);
- Frank Sparkman, aka Chucky, 42 (Hohenwald, TN);
- Antonio Sowell, aka Premo, 38 (Hohenwald, TN);
- Tanasha Vaughn, aka Nesha, 24 (Hohenwald, TN);
- Charles Lowe-Kelley, aka White Chaz, 31 (Columbia, TN);
- Darron Weakley, aka Snype Lucas, 37 (Nashville, TN); and
- Antonio Laster, aka Lil Memphis, 33 (Nashville, TN);
The attorney’s office notes that Michael Sowell and Antonio Sowell were also charged with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Keadrick Duke, aka Kebe, 41, of Columbia, was also charged with the distribution of crack cocaine in November 2018 in another indictment.
Except for Brandon Dailey, who died while awaiting trial, every defendant charged in these three indictments has now pleaded guilty.
“Many of these defendants face mandatory minimum prison terms of five, ten, or fifteen years, and up to life in prison when they are sentenced later this year,” the Attorney’s Office states.
In 2021, 52 individuals in Maury County and nine individuals in Lewis County died from drug overdoses, according to Tennessee Department of Health data.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
