ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Rodney Dejuan Allison, 46, of Asheville, was sentenced in federal court late yesterday to 310 months in prison and eight years of supervised release on drug conspiracy charges, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
On April 2, 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Allison and seven other defendants on drug conspiracy charges following a two-year joint federal, state and local investigation into drug distribution and drug related criminal activity in Buncombe County. Court record show that Allison supplied the drug ring, which was operating in the Asheville area, with multiple controlled substances, including cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and other narcotics. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized drugs, 12 firearms and ammunition, and $153,674 in cash.
In addition to Allison, seven other defendants have been sentenced after pleading guilty to drug conspiracy charges. They are:
- Prophet Karim Hadialim Allah – sentenced to 108 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
- William Luther Downs, Jr. – sentenced to 108 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
- Jeffrey Allen Wright – sentenced to 100 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
- Harry James Odum – sentenced to 72 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
- Elliot Norris Smith – sentenced to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
- Derrick Maurice Perry – sentenced to 60 months in prison and four years of supervised release.
- Teresa Day Shuping – sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Asheville Police Department, the Buncombe County Anti-Crime Task Force, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, the Black Mountain Police Department, and the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office for leading the investigation. U.S. Attorney King also thanked the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kent, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, prosecuted the case.