CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Timothy Wayne Bates, 51, of Dallas, N.C., to 235 months in prison and five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
According to filed documents and court proceedings, in August 2020, Bates possessed methamphetamine on three occasions. On August 5, 2020, law enforcement encountered Bates at the parking lot of a hotel in Gaston County, where Bates was found to be in possession of methamphetamine and a firearm. On the same day, law enforcement also recovered additional methamphetamine and $3,500 in cash Bates had attempted to discard near the hotel. On August 14, 2020, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Bates was driving. Over the course of the stop, law enforcement seized methamphetamine and over $4,000 in cash. Then on August 19, 2020, law enforcement arrested Bates at a hotel in Pineville, North Carolina, after recovering methamphetamine and more than $1,900 in cash.
On June 17, 2021, Bates pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and three counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. At today’s sentencing hearing, Bates’s sentence was enhanced due to his multiple prior convictions of felony Breaking and Entering, Embezzlement, Grand Larceny, Possession of Methamphetamine, Receiving Stolen Goods, and Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.
This case is the result of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation, which has led to the federal prosecution of more than 60 individuals for drug trafficking. Law enforcement have also seized more than 87 kilograms of narcotics, including over 24 kilograms of fentanyl, 66 firearms, more than $385,000 in cash, and over $800,000 in other property.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles criminal organizations using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Huntersville Police Department, the Gastonia Police Department, and the Dallas Police Department for their coordination and investigation of the case.
Assistant United States Attorney Steven Kaufman, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.