U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Eastern District of Tennesseewww.justice.gov/usao/tne For Immediate Release

July 27, 2010

Gregg L. Sullivan, Acting United States Attorney

Contact: Sharry Dedman-Beard
(865) 545-4167
(865) 545-4176 (fax)

Fifteen Arrested on Federal Methamphetamine Charges in Van Buren County

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn — Twelve men and three women were arrested today in Van Buren County on charges involving various violations of federal narcotics and firearms laws. Today’s arrests by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), and Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department, are the result of a two-year investigation into the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine in and around Van Buren County.

All of the individuals arrested are charged with conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine and conspiring to possess and distribute pseudoephedrine for the purpose of manufacturing methamphetamine. Several also face federal charges for unlawful possession of a firearm. Those arrested include Allen Dale Cole, 46, Robert Helton, 46, Charles Helton, 48, Larry Sullivan, 28, Eddie Simmons, 32, Tonya Mills, 33, Kevin Argo, 32, Cheyenne Mooneyham, 36, Jimmy Hopkins, Jr., 32, Wendell Rigsby, 39, Titus Sullivan, 30, Cody McCluskey, 22, Amber Rogers, 25, and Crystal Shockley, 24, all of Spencer, Tennessee, and Jeffrey Hobbs, 31, of McMinnville, Tennessee. Joshua Simmons, 29, Timothy Ryan Bouldin, 24, and Ashley Smith, 24, all of Spencer, are currently in custody and will be brought to federal court in the coming week. Other federal defendants are pending arrest and their names and other pertinent information will be released upon their initial appearance before the United States Magistrate Judge. A list of each individual charge with the potential penalty, if convicted, is listed on the summary sheet attached to this release.

Initial appearances are scheduled for Wednesday, July 28, 2010, in United States District Court in Chattanooga, before the Honorable Susan K. Lee, United States Magistrate Judge.

Acting United States Attorney Gregg Sullivan said, “These arrests and this prosecution are part of our continuing effort to reduce the availability of methamphetamine in East Tennessee.â€