Patrick Dewayne Smith, age 34, of Athens, Alabama was sentenced Friday to life imprisonment without release for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy announced David Rivera, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
At Smith’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger found that Smith had four previous drug felony convictions. Those convictions, combined with the quantity of drugs involved in the conspiracy, required a mandatory life sentence. Judge Trauger in ordering Smith to forfeit $750,000.00 noted that this conspiracy was one of the largest drug conspiracies in the Giles County, Tennessee area
Smith was convicted after a month-long jury trial, along with co-defendants Travis Gentry and Frank Randolph of Pulaski, Tennessee, of a drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy operating in Giles County, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Alabama.
Frank Randolph was previously sentenced to 70 months imprisonment and a $750,000 forfeiture judgment. Travis Gentry is set for sentencing on Aug. 26, 2013.
Twenty defendants were federally charged in this investigation. Two of those defendants, who are presumed to be innocent, are still pending trial. The remaining defendants have been convicted.
The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Giles County Sheriff's Department, the Pulaski Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sunny A.M. Koshy and Alex Little represented the United States at trial and sentencing.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
