News

White supremacist meth dealer sent to prison

By Lightning Reports, Published: April 23, 2020

A 34-year-old member of a white supremacist group was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison after his conviction in federal court on charges of trafficking methamphetamine in Henderson and Buncombe counties from January through May of last year, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Adams to serve 13 years, seven months in federal prison and ordered five years of court supervision after he is released from prison.

Joining Murray in making the announcement were Henderson County Sheriff Lowell S. Griffin, Ronnie Martinez, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations  in North Carolina; Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, which oversees the Asheville Post of Duty; and Chief Shawn Freeman of the Black Mountain Police Department.
According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, Adams, also known as Jon Boy, and his co-defendant, Linda Suzanne Higgins, are avowed members of the Aryan Brotherhood, which is a white supremacist gang. Court records show that from at least January 2019 to May 2019, Adams and Higgins trafficked methamphetamine, which they obtained from a source of supply in the Atlanta area.

The co-defendants then transported the methamphetamine back to Western North Carolina, where they redistributed it to local drug networks in Henderson and Buncombe counties, including to other members of the Aryan Brotherhood. Over the course of the investigation, federal and local law enforcement working together seized a portion of a 38-ounce shipment of methamphetamine in Buncombe County and a portion of a 10-ounce shipment of methamphetamine in Henderson County.
Adams and Higgins previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to posess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Higgins is currently awaiting sentencing.
Adams had been convicted of multiple felonies in state courts in Henderson, Buncombe and Caldwell counties and served time in state prison from August 2013 to May 2017.