The second defendant in a major drug distribution organization that trafficked methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine from Texas and Indiana into Southwest Virginia was sentenced today in federal court on drug conspiracy charges, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced.
In a hearing today, Jon Trevor DeBord, 29, of Vinton, Va., was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison. In January 2020, DeBord pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distributing 50 grams but less than 200 grams of methamphetamine.
“The methamphetamine trade has ravaged communities across Southwest Virginia for too long,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today. “Reducing the meth trade is a top priority of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and we will continue to work with our federal, state, and local partners to identify the individuals responsible for importing and distributing this deadly substance and put them in federal prison.”
“Methamphetamine is an extremely dangerous drug that can have devastating effects on communities,” said Attorney General Mark Herring. “My office remains committed to our partnership with the United States Attorney’s Office and law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local level to prosecute those who endanger our communities by trafficking this drug.”
In the most recent indictment, three individuals were charged as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy. DeBord, who pleaded guilty in January 2020, Daniel Augusto Rosa-Suarez, of Arlington, Texas, who was sentenced to 324 months in prison in February 2020, and Robert Luis Gray Osborne, who is scheduled for trial in August 2020.
According to court documents, the defendants conspired to traffic large quantities of crystal ice methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine from Texas and Indiana into Southwest Virginia for redistribution. In Virginia, the organization operated primarily in Smyth County and the Harrisonburg area from August 26, 2016, through May 25, 2018.
This case is one in a series of indictments stemming from a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy ring operating primarily in the Smyth County, Virginia area. In total, 20 defendants have been charged in federal court in connection with the investigation.
The investigation of this case was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bristol, Virginia, with assistance from the Smyth County Virginia Sheriff’s Office. Numerous other agencies also provided assistance throughout the investigation, including the Drug Enforcement Administration in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Birmingham, Alabama, Washington County Virginia Sheriff’s Office, Abingdon, Virginia Police Department, Rockingham County Virginia RUSH Drug Task Force, Rockingham County Virginia Sheriff’s Office, Harrisonburg, Virginia Police Department, Bessemer, Alabama Police Department, Virginia Department of Corrections, Virginia Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Unit, and the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail Authority. Special Assistant United States Attorney M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen, a Virginia Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Attorney General’s Major Crimes and Emerging Threats Section, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Roy F. Evans, who is also Commonwealth’s Attorney for Smyth County, prosecuted the case for the United States.
