United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DEC 7 -- United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that DERON JONES, 37, OLLIE CLOYD, 41, and MONICA WORLEY,26, all of Bristol, Virginia, were found guilty by a jury in the United States District Court in Abingdon, Virginia, for conspiring to distribute crack cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine. JONES and WORLEY were each found guilty of one count of conspiring to distribute more than fifty grams of crack cocaine and one count of possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine. JONES was also found guilty of one count of distribution of five grams or more of crack cocaine, and one count of possession with the intent to distribute of fifty grams or more of crack cocaine. CLOYD was found guilty of one count of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine and one count of distribution of crack cocaine.

According to evidence presented at trial by Special Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Lee, JONES, CLOYD and WORLEY were involved in the distribution of crack cocaine in the Bristol, Virginia area between July 2005 and November 2005. During that time period, JONES distributed crack cocaine from numerous locations in Bristol, Virginia and Tennessee, and also supplied WORLEY and others who sold crack cocaine for him. On October 20, 2005, JONES and CLOYD sold 13.85 grams of crack cocaine to a confidential informant working for the Bristol Virginia Police Department. JONES was found to have an additional fifty-eight grams of crack cocaine and $4,659.00 in cash in his possession when he was arrested after the transaction. Additionally, on November 5, 2005, JONES and WORLEY were stopped by the Virginia State Police in Montgomery County, Virginia and found to have in their possession 4.9 grams of crack cocaine, $6,552.00 in cash, and digital scales.

JONES, CLOYD, and WORLEY are scheduled to be sentenced on February 26, 2007, at 1:30p in the United States District Court in Abingdon, Virginia. Because of JONES prior record, he faces two mandatory life terms of incarceration on two of the four charges, while the remaining charges carry two additional life terms with a mandatory minimum term of ten years on the remaining charges. In addition, JONES faces ten million dollars in fines. WORLEY faces life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum term of ten years imprisonment and fines of ten million dollars. CLOYD faces twenty years imprisonment and one million dollars in fines on each charge.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bristol Virginia Police Department Vice-Narcotics Unit, the Bristol Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Virginia State Police. Special Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee of the United States Attorney’s Office in Abingdon prosecuted the case.