ABINGDON, VIRGINIA. - Travis Ryan Skaggs, a Pennington Gap, Va. man who participated in a conspiracy with 20 others to distribute methamphetamine in Wise and Lee counties in Southwest Virginia, was sentenced on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Abingdon to 180 months in federal prison on federal drug charges, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.
Travis Ryan Skaggs, 31, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and one count of possession with the intent to distribute and distributing methamphetamine.
According to court documents, Skaggs was one of 21 defendants charged in a May 29, 2019 indictment alleging a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine throughout Wise and Lee counties in Southwest Virginia. Skaggs’s role in the conspiracy was purchasing significant quantities of methamphetamine from higher-ranking members of the conspiracy and then distributing it downstream. Skaggs also was found to be in possession of a distribution quantity of methamphetamine while serving jail time at Southwest Virginia Regional Jail.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force, which is comprised of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Wise County Sheriff’s Office, Dickenson County Sheriff’s Office, Norton Police Department, Big Stone Gap Police Department, and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Lena Busscher, Jonathan Jones, and Anthony P. Giorno prosecuted the case for the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
