ABINGDON, VA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Virginia, Western), published as received.

ABINGDON, Va. – A former California man, who recently relocated to Meadowview, Virginia, was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in federal prison for his participation in a cross-country drug conspiracy that brought hundreds of pounds of crystal ice methamphetamine into the Southwest Virginia region.

Guy Benjamin Bowman, 57, was convicted following a jury trial in July 2022 of one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and to distributing 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine as well as one count of distributing or possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine.   

According to evidence presented at trial, Bowman and Sally Mae Carr, 42, also of Meadowview operated their methamphetamine trafficking operation in Washington County, Virginia from January 2021 through April 2022 and conspired with Bowman’s sources in Chino Hills, California, to bring approximately 200 pounds of crystal methamphetamine into Southwest Virginia for redistribution.  At the time of their arrests, over two pounds of crystal methamphetamine with a purity of over 98% and an estimated street value of $42,000, as well as over $7,000 in currency, were seized. 

In October 2022, Carr was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Washington Division made the announcement.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Holston River Regional Drug Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Virginia State Police, and task force officers from both the Lebanon Police Department and Smyth County Sheriff’s Office. 

Special Assistant United States Attorney M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen, a Virginia Senior Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Attorney General’s Major Crimes and Emerging Threats Section, and Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.