ssharpKNOXVILLE, TN. (WLAF)- A Jacksboro man facing federal cocaine charges has changed his plea to guilty following a hearing conducted via Zoom.
Johnny Arthur Tackett (above) will be sentenced March 2, 2021, on the sole count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, federal court records said.
Tackett was arrested in Oct. 2019, along with Billy Hoag Davis, Jacksboro, when they were named as part of a “large scale cocaine trafficking operation,” in an April 2019 affidavit filed by DEA Special Agent James Blanton.
The men were among at least 11 people named in the indictment. The group, which dubbed their business Proffitts 360, trafficked in illegal activities from July 2018 until May 2019, according to federal records.
Tackett changed his plea last week. As a matter of procedure, federal inmates are usually kept in custody pending sentencing but Tackett will not be. After demonstrating he isn’t a flight risk and presenting evidence of multiple underlying health conditions that are “confirmed risk factors for severe illness should he contract the COVID-19 virus” Tackett has been allowed to remain out of jail on supervised release, according to federal court records.
Tackett and Davis allegedly trafficked narcotics with a confidential source 18 times beginning in Dec. 2018 until March 2019. Over the course of four months, the source bought cocaine and marijuana from the two with Tackett acting as the go-between, court records said. Initially, the source would go to Tackett’s house and wait for him to go to Davis’ home to retrieve the drugs. Eventually, Davis began curbside service delivering the drugs to Tackett’s house in a silver Ford F-150, the same truck that authorities had placed a tracking device on. The surveillance records matched with information of the tracking unit along with the information from the confidential source confirmed the drug trafficking.
While Davis and Tackett are facing a serious federal charges, they seemingly avoided the money laundering charges faced by others in the group. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 08/17/2020- 6AM)