News

Fentanyl, meth dealer sentenced to 28½ years in federal prison

By Lightning Reports, Published: May 23, 2025

A 35-year-old Asheville man was sentenced to 28½ years in prison on Thursday for his role in a drug trafficking ring that distributed many pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine and other drugs in Buncombe and Henderson counties and the surrounding area, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced.

In addition to the prison term, Zachery Micah Rice was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
According to court records, Rice was a major distributor of methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine in Buncombe, Henderson, and Transylvania counties from 2021 to 2023.
He obtained the drugs from a supplier in Atlanta and transported them back to Western North Carolina for further distribution through a local network of traffickers and dealers, the U.S. attorney said. During one trip, law officers stopped and searched Rice’s vehicle, seizing over 11½  kilograms of methamphetamine, a .40-caliber pistol modified to fully automatic with a machinegun conversion device known as a “Glock switch,” and more than $32,683 in cash. Investigators later executed search warrants at stash houses and a storage unit used by Rice, recovering kilogram quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine, multiple firearms, including high-capacity magazines ammunition, digital scales, drug paraphernalia used for drug distribution, and more than $27,470.
Rice pleaded guilty last Oct. 18 to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a machinegun. He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending placement by the federal Bureau of Prisons.
In making today’s announcement, Ferguson thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina, the Asheville Police Department, the Waynesville Police Department, the Cherokee Indian Police Department, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office, the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, the Swain County Sheriff’s Office, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina for their investigation of the case.