GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Ryan Michael Guesford, 40, of Morristown, Tenn., was sentenced on Dec. 19, 2013, by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Court Judge, to serve 120 months in federal prison for distributing and conspiring to distribute oxycodone. Upon his release from prison Guesford will be subject to supervised release, under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office, for three years. There is no parole in the federal system.
Guesford and 11 others were named in an 18-count indictment in October 2012, returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Greeneville, Tenn. The charges in the indictment involved drug trafficking of oxycodone, oxymorphone, and methamphetamine, firearms violations, and money laundering. Guesford was named in two counts of the indictment, which charged a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and distribution of oxycodone. The charges initiated from a lengthy investigation of 12 individuals who traveled by commercial airlines and automobiles to Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia, to obtain oxycodone and other drugs to distribute throughout eastern Tennessee. The total conspiracy involved over 778,000 milligrams of oxycodone, which is the equivalent of nearly 26,000 dose units of 30 milligram oxycodone.
All 12 individuals charged in the indictment have been convicted and Guesford was the fourth defendant to be sentenced. Gerald Glenn Horner, 36, of Mooresburg, Tenn., was sentenced by Judge Greer on Oct. 21, 2013, to serve 108 months in federal prison. Joey Wayne Vanover, 36, of Tazewell, Tenn., was sentenced by Judge Greer on Oct. 28, 2013, to serve 63 months in federal prison. Kera Leann Greene, 24, of Morristown, Tenn., was sentenced by Judge Greer on Nov. 4, 2013, to a serve nine months in prison plus six months of home detention with electronic monitoring. Gregory Allen Rhea, Johnny Wayne Neeley, Kerry Glenn Nelson, Kimberly Ann Vanover, Ricky Allen “Rooster" Seal, Tamara Michelle Moles, and Ricky Collins are all awaiting sentencing in 2014.
U.S. Attorney Bill Killian commended the law enforcement agencies who were involved in this investigation. “Prescription drugs, including oxycodone, continue to be a major problem in East Tennessee. Powerful narcotics are highly addictive and can lead to criminal activity, as evidenced by the extensive efforts of this drug trafficking organization. Our office will continue to work closely with all law enforcement agencies to cut off the illegal supply lines of oxycodone and other prescription narcotics. We will aggressively prosecute those who traffic prescription drugs and the ‘pill mills’ that supply criminal organizations," stated Killian.
Agencies involved in this investigation included the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Morristown Police Department, and Hawkins County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Kerney-Quillen represented the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
