Three Asheville Residents Plead Guilty in Johnson City Methamphetamine Trafficking Case

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Tennessee — May 26, 2011

On May 23, 2011, in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee, the following individuals from Asheville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty before Judge Ronnie Greer to methamphetamine conspiracy charges:

• Crisantos Nicholas Bautista, 30 – sentencing scheduled for September 19, 2011
• Enrique Mendoza-Barone, 23 – sentencing scheduled for October 3, 2011
• Maria Antonia Manzanarez Nunez, 28 – sentencing scheduled for August 1, 2011

Court documents established that Mendoza-Barone delivered methamphetamine for Bautista. On January 12, 2011, Bautista and Nunez distributed eight ounces of methamphetamine in Johnson City to a confidential informant. A planned 16-ounce transaction on February 3, 2011, was interrupted when law enforcement stopped their vehicle in Carter County, Tennessee, recovering the methamphetamine. A subsequent search of their Asheville residence yielded an additional eight ounces of methamphetamine and a firearm.

The multi-agency investigation was led by the FBI with assistance from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, First Judicial Drug Task Force, local police departments, and the Appalachian HIDTA program. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Taylor prosecuted the case.

U.S. Attorney Bill Killian commended the cooperative effort among federal, state, and local agencies in addressing serious drug trafficking in Northeast Tennessee.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, May 26, 2011