Claiborne meth dealer sentenced to more than 15 years

From The Citizen Tribune -

The Claiborne County crystal-meth dealer Leonard Brian “Squeak” Brown, who earlier pleaded guilty to a 50-gram conspiracy, possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense and money laundering, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in federal prison.

Brown will have to serve more than 13 years before he’s eligible for restricted release. When the prison bars swing open, Brown will owe a $500,000 judgment to the federal government, the approximate street value of the methamphetamine he distributed over a 14-month period beginning in January 2017.

The FBI conducted the criminal inquiry without the assistance from the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Department. Rather than relying on confidential informants to make videotaped purchases from Brown and other dealers, FBI agents got court approval to wiretap the phones of Brown and the No. 2 defendant, Derrick Seals, who was sentenced to 20 years, according to court documents. The wiretaps provided FBI agents with a wealth of drug-related information that fatally compromised the vast majority of Brown’s 19 codefendants.

Federal law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Brown’s residence in March, 29, 2018 and seized more than 50 grams of meth. A search warrant executed at Brown’s brother’s home six days later turned up three-quarters of a pound of crystal meth, $25,000 in cash and five firearms that belonged to Brown, according to his plea agreement.