Two Guilty, One Sentenced in 17-Defendant Meth Case

MARSHALL – Two East Texans have pleaded guilty and another has been sentenced in a large-scale East Texas drug case. All three actions came in Marshall federal court; each involved a charge of possession of pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

41-year-old Gregory Scott Covey and 44-year-old Christine Francis Sirmans, both of Karnack, pleaded guilty. According to information presented in court, from Mar. 21, 2010 to Sep. 3, 2010, Covey purchased cold pills containing pseudoephedrine at stores in Marshall at least 32 times. Prosecutors say from Oct. 12, 2008 to Nov. 16, 2010, Sirmans purchased cold pills containing pseudoephedrine at stores in Marshall and Carthage at least 74 times. Covey and Sirmans each face up to 20 years in federal prison. Sentencing dates have not been set. In the other case, 39-year-old Adrian Demond Noel of Jefferson was sentenced to 68 months behind bars. Noel pleaded guilty on May 4, 2012.

According to federal authorities, the case involved a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine in East Texas. The conspiracy involved defendants traveling to multiple pharmacies to purchase numerous boxes of cold pills containing pseudoephedrine for use in the manufacture of methamphetamine. An 839-count federal indicted was returned on Feb. 1 charging Sirmans, Covey, Noel, and 14 other co-defendants with federal drug crimes. Of those defendants, 14 have been convicted.