Suspects in meth ring sentenced

Paul Bingham of Union City was sentenced to 78 months is prison for conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamines. The prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.

Additional charges of selling, distributing or dispensing methamphetamine and selling, distributing or dispensing more than 50 grams of methamphetamines were dismissed.

Santiago Martinez-Amezquita of Union City was sentenced to 78 months in prison on a charge of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamines. He will serve that sentence concurrently with an identical sentence issued in a second federal case of selling, distributing or dispensing approximately 2 pounds of methamphetamines in Arkansas.

After his release, Martinez-Amezquita will serve an additional five years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.

Rachel Morgan of Union City was sentenced to 70 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamines. The prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release. She also was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.

Three additional charges of selling, distributing or dispensing a controlled substance (in some cases, more than 50 grams of methamphetamines) were dismissed.

All three must complete a 500-hour drug program in prison. During their supervised release periods, each must provide DNA samples and participate in drug and alcohol abuse testing and any required treatment programs.

Six others - Janet Martinez, Yolanda Martinez, Cammie Armour, Henry Allen, Juan L. Ayon and Adolfo Ortiz-Alcazar - also have pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. They are to be sentenced in the coming months, according to federal court records.

According to the Nov. 19, 2007, indictment, the group intended to "obtain Methamphetamine, then to aid and abet each other in developing a market for and distributing the illicit and illegally obtained Methamphetamine in the vicinity of Obion County, Tennessee. It was further part of the conspiracy for Yolanda Martinez to provide and maintain a building for the distribution of Methamphetamine."

At the time of the Obion County drug ring's arrest, federal authorities also busted a smaller methamphetamine ring in Dyer County. All three of those defendants - Carrie Ann Parrish, Shawn Christopher Riley and Derek Patterson - were sentenced in July and August.