United States of America v. Zachery Micah Rice

Michael Lindsey Jones, 39, of Hendersonville, N.C., was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.



Jones's supplier, Zachery Micah Rice, was sentenced previously to more than 28 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine.



According to court records, from 2021 to 2023, Jones conspired with Rice to distribute significant quantities of methamphetamine in Buncombe, Henderson, and Transylvania Counties. During the investigation into Jones and Rice's trafficking activities, law enforcement used a confidential informant to purchase pound quantities of methamphetamine from Rice that Jones coordinated. Court records show that Jones arranged the drug deals, set the meeting times and locations with the confidential informant, and handled the drug-for-cash exchanges. From February to April 2023, Jones was responsible for distributing nearly 1.3 kilograms of methamphetamine.



Jones pleaded guilty on December 30, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and aiding and abetting the distribution of methamphetamine.



Jones remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending placement by the federal Bureau of Prisons.



In making today's announcement, U.S. Attorney 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.



Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher S. Hess of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Asheville handled the prosecution.



This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).