In August of 2014, the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit, with assistance from the United States Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration arrested six individuals from Watauga County, NC in response to a federal investigation into the manufacture of methamphetamine.
On Monday November 16th, 2015, the last of the group was sentenced for their participation in the manufacture of almost 400 grams of methamphetamine by U.S. District Judge Richard Voorhies in Statesville, NC.
-Bobby Coffey, 48, and Jeremy Snyder, 38, were sentenced to 46 months and 57 months, respectively with the Federal Bureau of Prisons on August 10th, 2015.
-Donald Dennis, 29, was sentenced to 39 months with the Federal Bureau of Prisons on September 9th, 2015.
-Kenneth Barnes, 34, and Michael Whitehair, 35, were sentenced to 27 months and 46 months respectively, with the Federal Bureau of Prisons on September 28th, 2015.
-Sean Smith, 31, was sentenced to 27 months with the Federal Bureau of Prisons on November 16th, 2015.
These individuals were using the “Shake and Bake” method to manufacture methamphetamine and did so in different locations around Watauga County, NC over several years.