Last Updated on November 18, 2021 1:42 pm
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell handed down sentences of up to 15 years in prison to five defendants for their involvement in a methamphetamine trafficking ring, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Judge Bell sentenced the defendants as follows:
• William Jay Allen, Jr., 29, of Vilas, N.C. was sentenced to 180 months in prison,
followed by five years of supervised release. Allen pleaded guilty to drug trafficking
conspiracy and distribution methamphetamine.
• Justin Kevin Anderson, 31, of Boone, N.C. was sentenced to 135 months in prison,
followed by six years of supervised release. Anderson pleaded guilty to drug trafficking
conspiracy and distribution methamphetamine.
• Thomas Burns Shelley, III, 37, of Blowing Rock, N.C., was sentenced to 132 months in
prison and five years of supervised release. Shelley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
• Jeffrey David Miller, of Sugar Grove, N.C., was sentenced to 36 months in prison and
three years of supervised release. Miller pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute
methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine.
• Danielle Denise Dieters Ward, 42, of Morganton, N.C., was sentenced to 36 months in
prison and five years of supervised release. Ward pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
distribute methamphetamine and distribution and possession with intent to distribute
methamphetamine.
A sixth co-defendant, Timothy Wilson Critcher, 47, of Boone, N.C., is scheduled to be
sentenced on December 7, 2021.
According to court documents and the sentencing hearing, from 2018 to 2020, Allen and
his co-conspirators trafficked more than 12 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in Ashe and
Watauga Counties, and elsewhere. Court documents show that Allen was the source of supply
for the methamphetamine, and his co-defendants operated as couriers and sellers in the conspiracy.
All of the defendants are in currently custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and will be
transferred to the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
This case is supported by the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force
(OCDETF) as part of an ongoing investigation focusing on drug organizations trafficking large
quantities of methamphetamine in Western North Carolina. To date, more than 200 individuals
have been prosecuted, and law enforcement have seized more than 20 kilograms of crystal
methamphetamine, $500,000 in U.S. currency and other assets, and dozens of firearms.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations
using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about
the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
In making today’s announcement, Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer recognized the following
federal, state and local agencies which partnered in this investigation, and thanked them for their
continued cooperation and support: the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE)
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives (ATF); the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NC SBI); the Ashe County
Sheriff’s Office; the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office; the Boone Police Department; and the
Johnson County Tennessee Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee.
The prosecutions are being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the
U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
