Several Sentenced in Meth/Cold Pill Cases

TYLER (Staff/AP) – It’s been a busy week in Tyler federal court for cases involving methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine. In just one case. two Beckville men have been sentenced to federal prison. Randy Jess Coleman, 29, pleaded guilty on June 16, 2010, to possession of pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine and was sentenced Wednesday to 57 months in federal prison Wedesday. Jerry Lee Nations, 43, pleaded guilty on June 2, 2010, to the same charge and was sentenced Wednesday to 69 months behind bars.

According to information presented in court, on Dec. 27, 2008, Coleman purchased cold pills containing pseudoephedrine at a Wal-Mart in Longview, and five other times that same day at other stores in the area. On Feb. 24, 2009, Nations purchased cold pills containing pseudoephedrine at a Wal-Mart and CVS in Marshall, Texas. These purchases were all made in furtherance of their methamphetamine manufacturing activities. A federal grand jury returned a an indictment on Apr. 8, 2010 charging Coleman and Nations with federal drug violations.

Earlier, three people were sentenced to prison over their roles in an alleged methamphetamine manufacturing ring. A grand jury in February returned a 256-count indictment naming 44-year-old Shannon Sue Guess of Longview, 27-year-old Jeremy Kristopher Ivie of Carthage and 27-year-old Christie Rene Tull of Carthage. All three pleaded guilty earlier this year to possession of pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine. Guess was sentenced Wednesday to 57 months in prison. Ivie was sentenced to 70 months behind bars, while Tull received a 37-month federal prison term. Prosecutors say the cases involved the purchase of cold pills at stores in Longview, Tyler, and Henderson, plus at other retailers, with the intent of making methamphetamine.

Earlier, another man was sentenced in the 256-count case. Michael Lewis Galyean, 49, of Carthage, pleaded guilty in August to possession of pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine. He was sentenced Tuesday to 120 months. Authorities say Galyean’s cold pill buys came at a Kilgore Walgreens and other locations. All the sentences were handed down by U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider.