Alleged leader of local meth operation sentenced to prison

JACKSON, Tenn. — The alleged leader of a large methamphetamine trafficking operation has been sentenced to prison.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 36-year-old Preston Antwan McNeal, of Jackson, was found guilty on four counts of a seven-count indictment and sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for trafficking methamphetamine.

According to U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz, along with information presented in court, McNeal formed and led a meth trafficking operation in West Tennessee from 2016 to 2019.

A press release states in 2017, during a traffic stop performed by the Lexington Police Department, McNeal threw a bag containing 44 grams of meth, 16 grams of cocaine, and one gram of crack cocaine into a nearby yard. The release says officers found over $1,200 in cash, a drug ledger and a digital scale in the car.

In 2019, the release states McNeal was arrested in a separate traffic stop by the Chester County Sheriff’s Department. During this incident, the release says authorities found a bag containing 14.3 grams of meth, plus $3,000 in cash. According to the release, a total of 57.34 grams of meth was recovered during this traffic stop, as the passenger of the car later testified that McNeal gave her four baggies of meth to hide on her person. The release says one of McNeal’s co-conspirators also testified that from late 2017 to February 2019, McNeal provided the witness with over 5 kilograms of meth to redistribute.

U.S. District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced McNeal to 420 months imprisonment to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Lexington Police Department, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, and the DEA. U.S. Attorney Ritz thanked law enforcement, along Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adam Davis and Josh Morrow, who prosecuted the case for the government.

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