United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ABINGDON, Va. – A Bristol, Virginia man pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Abingdon to charges related to the distribution of methamphetamine and firearms.

David Benjamin Shaffer, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.

According to evidence presented at last week’s guilty plea hearing by United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, on Sept. 18, 2019, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Abingdon Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle being operated by Shaffer and executed a search warrant. Officers located approximately seventy grams of methamphetamine in the vehicle and a loaded .40 caliber handgun in Shaffer’s waistband. Following his arrest, Shaffer admitted to his involvement in the distribution of methamphetamine when he was interviewed by agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Shaffer will be sentenced on March 24, 2020. He faces a ten-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment and a potential sentence of up to life in prison and/or $8,250,000 in fines.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington Division, the Abingdon Police Department, and then Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee is prosecuting the case for the United States.

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