United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jonathan Corey Daniel, 33, of Monroe, Georgia, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell to 210 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. In July 2021, Daniel pleaded guilty to methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and aiding and abetting.

According to filed court documents and statements made in court, Daniel was a supplier with a drug ring that trafficked methamphetamine from Georgia into Western North Carolina. From 2018 to April 2019, while Daniel was incarcerated in Georgia, he arranged the distribution of large amounts of methamphetamine to a drug network that distributed methamphetamine in Catawba, Lincoln, Caldwell, and Alexander Counties and elsewhere. Court records show that Daniel used a contraband cell phone to communicate with his co-conspirators and to coordinate the drug distribution. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized narcotics, at least 23 firearms, and more than $250,000 in drug proceeds.

Thirteen defendants were previously sentenced for their involvement: 

Michael James Notheisen, 36, of Vale, N.C., was sentenced to 240 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

James Kristoffer Cantley, 40, of Newton, N.C. was sentenced to 210 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Tiffany Christmas Hirani, 35, of Monroe, Georgia, was sentenced to 210 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Aaron Douglas Goodson, 32, of Lincolnton, N.C., was sentenced to 210 months in prison and five years of supervised release. 

Brian Duane Martz, 43, was sentenced to 191 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Priscilla Chapman Lambert, 36, of Hickory, N.C., was sentenced to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release.  

Thomas Dewayne Simmons, Jr., 36, of Monroe, Georgia, was sentenced to 150 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Ruth Marie Duggar, 39, of Claremont, N.C., was sentenced to 132 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Lowell Thomas Messer, 45, of Newton, N.C., was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Samantha Jean Taylor, 27, of Newton, N.C., was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Kimberly Deann Bumgarner, 58, of Granite Falls, N.C., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and two years of supervised release. 

Cynthia Roxanne Shook, 37, of Conover, N.C., was sentenced to 60 months in prison and two years of supervised release.

Jason Keith Reichard, 40, of Ridgecrest, N.C., was sentenced to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney King thanked the following agencies for their investigative efforts which led to federal charges: 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 Asheville, prosecuted 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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