United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Eleven members of a methamphetamine trafficking ring have been ordered to serve prison sentences ranging from 36 months to 210 months for federal drug conspiracy charges, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to filed court documents and court proceedings, from 2018 to April 2019, the co-defendants were involved in a drug conspiracy that trafficked and distributed methamphetamine in Catawba, Lincoln, Caldwell, and Alexander Counties and elsewhere in Western North Carolina. Over the course of the multi-agency investigation, law enforcement seized at least 23 firearms, and more than $250,000 in drug proceeds.

The 11 defendants, each of whom previously pleaded guilty conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell on Wednesday, August 4, and Thursday, August 5, 2021, as follows: 

Kimberly Deann Bumgarner, 56, of Claremont, N.C., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and two years of supervised release. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Bumgarner also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Ruth Marie Dugger, 38, of Claremont, N.C., was sentenced to 132 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Duggar also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Aaron Douglas Goodson, 30, of Maiden, N.C., was sentenced to 210 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Goodson also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Tiffany Christmas Hirani, 34, of Monroe, Georgia, was sentenced to 210 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Priscilla Chapman Lambert, 34, of Hickory, N.C., was sentenced to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Brian Duane Martz, 42, was sentenced to 191 months in prison and five

years of supervised release.

Lowell Thomas Messer, 44, of Newton, N.C., was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Messer also pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Jason Keith Reichard, 39, of Newton, N.C., was sentenced to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Cynthia Roxanne Shook, 35, of Catawba, N.C., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Shook also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Thomas Dewayne Simmons, Jr., 35, of Snellville, Georgia, was sentenced to 150 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Simmons also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Samantha Jean Taylor, 26, of Newton, N.C., was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Three other members of the conspiracy have pleaded guilty for their participation in the drug conspiracy. James Kristoffer Cantley, Jonathan Corey Daniel, and Michael James Notheisen, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Cantley and Notheisen have also each pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. A sentencing date for Cantley, Daniel and Notheisen has not been set.

In making today’s announcement Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer thanked the following agencies for their investigative efforts: the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Charlotte, Asheville, and Atlanta; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office; the Newton Police Department; the Conover Police Department; the Maiden Police Department; the Hickory Police Department; the Longview Police Department; the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office; the Granite Falls Police Department; the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office; the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office; the Huntersville Police Department; the Cornelius Police Department; the Mint Hill Police Department; the Pineville Police Department; the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department; the Monroe Police Department; the Taylorsville Police Department; the Gaston County Police Department; the Georgia Highway Patrol; the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Georgia Department of Corrections; the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia; and the Commerce Police Department in Georgia.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is prosecuting the case.                                                          

The DEA encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com, www.CampusDrugPrevention.gov, and www.dea.gov . Also follow DEA Atlanta via Twitter at @DEAATLANTADiv

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