ABINGDON, Va. – A Bristol, Tennessee man was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in federal prison for conspiring with others in Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina to traffic methamphetamine from Mexico into Southwest Virginia and then launder the monetary proceeds.
Jeremy Cole Canter, 34, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering, one count of possessing with the intent to distribute 50 grams more of methamphetamine, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents, beginning in 2020, Canter and at least 15 other co-conspirators developed a wide-ranging distribution network that trafficked large shipments of methamphetamine into Southwest Virginia for redistribution. Canter and his co-conspirators made numerous trips to Atlanta, Georgia and Houston, Texas to pick up large quantities of methamphetamine from accomplices who acted as a conduit from multiple sources in Mexico.
In order to launder the funds, the conspirators wired money in increments of $2,000 to designated individuals in Mexico as a finders-fee paid to co-conspirator Amy Deanna Cobb, 35, who – by virtue of her marriage to a member of a Mexican cartel – would then arrange a pickup location for the massive quantities of methamphetamine. In total, over $75,000 was wired to Mexico by various co-conspirators.
U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia, Charlie J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Washington Field Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the DEA’s Washington Division made the announcement.
The Drug Enforcement Administration as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Murphy prosecuted the case.