Surgoinsville Resident Sentenced To Thirty Years In Federal Prison For Drug Trafficking, Firearm And Witness Intimidation
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GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (August 19, 2016) - On Aug. 19, 2016, Gregory Harold Moore (Moore), 47, of Surgoinsville, Tenn., was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, U.S. District Court Judge, to serve 360 months in federal prison following his convictions for conspiracies to distribute methamphetamine, hydrocodone, oxycodone and oxymorphone, as well as conspiracy to threaten bodily injury to a person in retaliation for suspected cooperation with law enforcement and engaging in intimidating and threatening conduct with the intent to influence or prevent testimony in an official proceeding and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
According to his plea agreement on file with U.S. District Court, Moore admitted that between May 2015 and August 2015 he sold an approximate total of two ounces of methamphetamine, spread out over four separate occasions, to an individual working with law enforcement. In August 2015, Moore told this individual that he could provide him/her with three ounces of methamphetamine the next time they met (and currently had two ounces of methamphetamine). A federal search warrant was executed at Moore’s Surgoinsville residence during which law enforcement agents found approximately 48 firearms, over $24,000.00 in cash, approximately 190 hydrocodone pills and a silencer. Moore was arrested and taken to jail on the same day.
While incarcerated on these charges, Moore engaged in a significant number of telephone calls, which were recorded on the jail system. During these recorded phone calls, he directed others, including co-defendants, Pamela Moore, 47, of Surgoinsville, Tenn., David Allen Davis, 47, of Church Hill, Tenn., and Kathy Denice Jones, 50, also of Church Hill, Tenn., to collect pain pills and methamphetamine that were not located during the search of his residence in order to hide them from the police and be sold to raise profit and/or to collect other drug debts for Moore while he was in jail. Additionally, Moore told his wife, Pamela Moore to spread the word as to the identity of the person he believed was working with law enforcement and get another co-defendant Donnie Dwayne Wallen, 38, of Church Hill, Tenn., to cause bodily injury to that person for cooperating against Moore. In particular, Moore wanted Wallen to “beat his brains out,” and “beat the brakes off” the individual because he/she was a “narc” and a “snitch.”
During another recorded jail call between Moore and Jones, Moore estimated that there was over $30,000 worth of pills hidden at his residence. He told Jones that the police only found a little over $20,000 in cash during the search because he had invested the rest in drugs. Law enforcement agents returned to Moore’s residence and continued their search, locating 355 oxymorphone pills, 357 oxycodone pills and 7.4 ounces of methamphetamine which had been hidden by Moore. In a subsequent recorded meeting, Davis told Pamela Moore that the value of all of the drugs seized by the police was likely at least $50,000.
Davis, Jones and Wallen all met at Jones’ residence in Church Hill to discuss Moore’s directions. During the meeting, Jones stated that Wallen was “prepared to go ahead and beat the h*** out of the guy, you know leave him for dead” but just wanted to make sure it was the right person. Wallen stated that he was going to collect $1,000.00 for Moore from the source and that if he/she didn’t pay, he would break his/her legs. Wallen stated that he couldn’t “beat the h***” out of the individual and then expect him to pay the $1,000.00, unless he/she had it on them and he could just take it, “and most people don’t carry $1,000.00 on them unless they are Greg Moore.” Wallen and Jones were previously sentenced to 66 months and 41 months respectively for their roles in the relevant conspiracies. Both Pamela Moore and Davis have sentencing hearings scheduled in U.S. District Court within the next few months.
U.S. Attorney Nancy Stallard Harr stated, “The safety and security of witnesses involved in the criminal cases is paramount. There are few cases that this office takes more seriously than witness intimidation or retaliation as such crimes tear at the very fabric of the criminal justice system. We believe that this sentence on Gregory Harold Moore illustrates these intimidation type tactics simply cannot be tolerated in the criminal justice system.” U.S. Attorney Harr added, “These law enforcement agencies worked closely together to halt the destruction of lives in Hawkins County from illegal drug use and addiction directly attributable to violent drug dealers such as Moore.”
Law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation included the Federal Bureau of Investigation Morristown Rocky Top Task Force, Third District Judicial Drug Task Force, Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office, and Appalachian High Intensity Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Taylor represented the United States. | | | | | |
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