ABINGDON, VIRGINIA - Yesterday in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, an Abingdon, Va. man was sentenced to 180-months of imprisonment for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and related offenses.
Richard Jerry Hicks, 45, of Abingdon, Va., was indicted in December 2014 along with Amanda Jane Tignor, 34, of Abingdon, Va., on a variety of charges related to the manufacturing of methamphetamine at their home in Abingdon.
Tignor previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and creating a substantial risk of harm to human life, and was sentenced to 78 months in prison in June of this year. Following a two-day jury trial in July of this year, Hicks was found guilty on five of the six federal drug charges levied against him. Evidence presented at trial showed that Hicks and Tignor gathered pseudoephedrine and other methamphetamine-related supplies between June 2013 and May 2014, and manufactured methamphetamine in a home where two minors resided. Evidence also presented at trial showed Hicks had once boasted to law enforcement that-when it came to methamphetamine manufacturing-Hicks was the “best around."
In sentencing Hicks, United States District Judge James P. Jones noted the risk of harm to the children who resided in the home and Hicks’ criminal history, which included a previous conviction in Washington County, Virginia Circuit Court in 2010 for manufacturing methamphetamine.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Abingdon Police Department, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Virginia State Police, and United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Special Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Jayne prosecuted the case for the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
