GREENEVILLE, Tennessee – A federal judge in Greeneville has sentenced the last of five Grainger County residents in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. On October 29, 36-year-old Christian Aaron Atkins received 113 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
United States District Judge Clifton L. Corker handed down the sentence in U.S. District Court at Greeneville. Atkins will serve five years of supervised release after he leaves prison.
Four co-conspirators sentenced earlier this year
Judge Corker sentenced Atkins’ four co-conspirators, all of Grainger County, earlier in 2026. Each will also serve five years of supervised release after prison.
- 44-year-old Tonya Renee Valentine: 180 months, sentenced June 3
- 48-year-old Donald Eugene Roberts: 120 months, sentenced June 25
- 48-year-old Karen E. Carpenter: 120 months, sentenced August 12
- 41-year-old Jacob Adam Parkey: 126 months, sentenced August 19
All five signed plea agreements and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. The charge falls under 21 U.S.C. § 846, 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A).
Bean Station investigation
Plea agreements filed in the case say the Bean Station Police Department worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, known as FBI HIDTA. Together they ran a lengthy, targeted narcotics investigation into several people distributing methamphetamine in the region.
Agents seized about 1,200 grams of methamphetamine during the investigation. They also executed three separate search warrants, which turned up roughly 2 more pounds of the drug.
Agents also seized $4,864 in U.S. currency. Investigators believe it was proceeds from illegal narcotics sales.
U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee announced the sentences with Special Agent in Charge Terrence G. Riley of the FBI’s Nashville Field Office, Knoxville Resident Agency.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. Parker represented the United States.
