A Knoxville, Tennessee, man has been sentenced to life in prison on federal drug charges.
U.S. District Court judge, Thomas A. Varlan, Feb. 9 sentenced Ronald Turner, 25, to a life sentence and to five-years of supervised release, according to a Department of Justice news release.
“Turner was part of a gang that trafficked in lethal drugs, resulting in devastation and death within our community," U.S. Attorney, Francis M. Hamilton III, said in a statement. " This sentence sends a powerful message that incarcerated individuals who continue to engage in drug trafficking and who use minors to flood the community with drugs will face justice.”
This sentence followed Turner's trial in July 2021 where he was convicted with six other gang members of conspiring to distribute controlled substances including, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, marijuana, oxycodone, alprazolam, and buprenorphine, the release stated.
"Witnesses testified at trial that Turner, while serving a state prison sentence in the Tennessee Department of Corrections in Middle Tennessee for attempted second-degree murder, used contraband cell phones in the prison to organize multi-pound shipments of methamphetamine to other members of a violent street gang known as the Unknown Ghost Vice Lords in East Tennessee," according to the release.
The jury also convicted Turner and other defendants of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the DOJ said. Seven other members of the conspiracy pleaded guilty, according to prosecutors.
