GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - On Mar. 26, 2015, Phillip Wayne Mullins, 39, of Kingsport, Tenn., was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, U.S. District Judge, to serve 151 months in federal prison for his role in an extensive a-PVP (alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone) distribution conspiracy centered around the Sullivan County area. A-PVP is a synthetic drug which is commonly referred to on the street as “gravel." Mullins will serve this federal sentence consecutive to a previously ordered state sentence for manufacturing methamphetamine.
According to the plea agreement on file with the district court clerk’s office, Mullins admitted that he conspired to distribute and was accountable for a conservative estimate of 5,500 grams of a-PVP, to a large number of customers and other dealers in and around the Eastern District of Tennessee. The plea agreement also provided a stipulation by Mullins that he had traded firearms for a-PVP.
U.S. Attorney William C. Killian stated, “Gravel is a very dangerous and harmful substance. We are pleased with this significant sentence because it reflects the seriousness of the crimes committed."
Law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation which led to the indictment and subsequent conviction of Mullins include the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Kingsport Police Department, Hawkins County Sheriff’s Department, Johnson City Police Department, Greeneville Tennessee Police Department, Hendersonville, North Carolina Police Department, and Scott County Virginia Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Taylor represented the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
