Man gets meth penalty
By From staff reports
Published in News on June 8, 2012 1:46 PM
WILMINGTON -- The owner of a Lucama automotive repair business Thursday was sentenced in federal court to more than 25 years in prison on drug charges.
David Lewis, 58, was sentenced to 327 months by Senior United States District Judge James C. Fox on charges that he was involved in the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine in Wilson, Johnston and Sampson counties.
A federal grand jury indicted Lewis on Oct. 5, 2011, and on Nov. 21, 2011, a jury found him guilty of conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine; possession of pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine; and two counts of possessing equipment, chemicals, and other materials used to manufacture methamphetamine.
The investigation revealed that Lewis along with co-defendants Barry Lee Miller, Stacy Farrell Mayo, Aaron Brent Simmons, Randy Moore, Heather Michelle "Missy" Webb, Kevin Halpin, William Patrick Jernigan, Valerie Amber Simmons, Amanda Spencer, and Stephanie Smith were involved in the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine in Wilson, Johnston and Sampson counties.
Lewis owned and operated The Corvette Shop, an automotive repair business in Lucama, which served as the defendants' meeting place, and that was also used to buy, sell and "cook" methamphetamine.
According to evidence presented during the trial, on Feb. 8, 2010, U.S. deputy marshals, who were trying to locate a fugitive, visited The Corvette Shop. When they knocked on the door, two people ran into a rear room of the building.
Believing that one of the people was the fugitive they were looking for, the deputies chased the two people. What the deputies discovered in the room was an active methamphetamine laboratory in which they found 1.7 grams of methamphetamine and 16.4 grams of pseudoephedrine.
The investigation also revealed that Lewis had purchased 120.6 grams of pseudoephedrine from 2006 until 2011.
The other co-defendants have been sentenced, with the exception of Randy Moore, with terms of imprisonment that range from 36 months to 199 months. Moore is currently scheduled for sentencing on July 16.
This case is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation entitled Speedbump, which targeted the domestic production of methamphetamine in the Eastern District.