6 Indicted for Madisonville-Area Drug Distribution Ring Following a Homeland Security Task Force Investigation Led by DEA and MPD
Madisonville, KY – Following a joint state and federal investigation led by the DEA and the Madisonville Police Department, a federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky, returned an indictment on August 12, 2026, charging six Madisonville-area individuals with drug distribution-related charges.
U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the DEA Louisville Field Division, and Chief Steve Bryan of the Madisonville Police Department made the announcement.
According to the 13-count indictment, Traviel Civils, 34, of Madisonville, Kentucky; Teron Cox, 41, of Earlington, Kentucky; James Gunn, 69, of Greenville, Kentucky; Adam Pettus, 41, of Earlington, Kentucky; Brooke Poe, 44, of Madisonville, Kentucky; and Robert Rice, 46, of Madisonville, Kentucky, were charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances involving 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of cocaine.
Civils was charged with seven additional counts of distribution of controlled substances involving cocaine and methamphetamine. Pettus was charged with 10 additional counts of distribution of controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances involving cocaine and methamphetamine. Rice was charged with two additional counts of distribution of controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances involving methamphetamine. Cox was charged with two additional counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances involving cocaine and methamphetamine. Gunn was charged with one additional count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances involving methamphetamine.
All defendants other than Cox recently made an initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. These defendants remained detained in federal custody pending trial. Cox remains in state custody and will make an initial appearance at a later date.
If convicted, the defendants each face a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life. There is no parole in the federal system. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is being investigated by the DEA and the Madisonville Police Department with assistance from the ATF, Kentucky State Police, Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office and Madisonville Vice Narcotics Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Nicholas Rabold of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The case is also being worked in conjunction with Hopkins County Commonwealth’s Attorney Hannah Kington-Jarvis.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Louisville comprises agents and officers from FBI, HSI, DEA, ATF, and IRS, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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