Heroin Conspiracy Ringleader Convicted
Prosecutors in DA Charme Allen’s Felony Drug Unit obtained convictions today against a drug dealer from Detroit, Michigan, who led a group of conspirators that brought kilos of heroin and thousands of prescription pills to the streets of Knoxville. Waynard Quartez Winbush, 30, was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Sell and Deliver Heroin in a Drug Free School Zone, Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Sell and Deliver Oxymorphone in a Drug Free School Zone, Possession with Intent to Sell Oxycodone in a Drug Free Park Zone, and Possession with Intent to Sell Oxymorphone in a Drug Free Park Zone. After the jury returned their verdict, Judge Bob McGee set the case for sentencing on September 15.
In a five-day trial, Assistant District Attorneys Hector Sanchez and Ken Irvine explained to the jury that Knoxville Police Department Investigator Phil Jinks received numerous drug complaints about heroin trafficking in Knoxville. During the course of his investigation, Inv. Jinks was able to uncover that between January 3, 2013, and July 31, 2013, Winbush and other Detroit natives, August Omar Allen, 33, Christopher James Holloway, 30, Jordan Cornell Page, 24, Joseph Green, 29, and Coleman Eugene Strickland, 43, brought heroin, oxycodone, and oxymorphone from Detroit to Knoxville using rental cars and the Greyhound bus. Once in Knoxville, the conspirators would sell heroin and pills to addicts at various locations including houses on Chickamauga Avenue, New York Avenue, and Adair Drive. The Detroit drug runners were aided in Knoxville by local co-conspirators, Timothy Kyle Ford, 57, Megan Leah Huffaker, 26, and Amanda Mae Maples, 35, who sold heroin and pills to feed their own addiction. In addition to the investigation in Knoxville, Ohio Highway Patrol Officer Jason Archer stopped Allen and Holloway near Toledo, Ohio, while they were transporting heroin and a cutting agent from Detroit to Knoxville.
“As we are in the midst of an opiate epidemic with drug overdose deaths doubling in the past five years, the District Attorney’s Office is doing everything we can to prosecute the dealers and the drug trafficking organizations that continue to feed the addiction that many in our community are battling,” said DA Charme Allen.
Because of the amount of heroin distributed during the course of this conspiracy and the fact that the conspiracy occurred in a drug free zone, Winbush is facing a minimum of fifteen to twenty-five years in prison without the possibility of parole. In addition to finding Winbush guilty, the jury assessed fines totaling $700,000. The other co-conspirators listed above each pled guilty to their role in the conspiracy and were sentenced to a total of eighty-six (86) years.
If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.