DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Tennessee

For Immediate Release

Thursday, May 28, 2015
William C. Killian
, United States Attorney
Contact: Sharry Dedman-Beard

Johnny White Sentenced To 120 Months On a-PVP Charges

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On May 28, 2015, Johnny White, 46, of Kingsport, Tenn., was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, U.S. District Judge, to serve 120 months in federal prison for his role in an extensive a-PVP (alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone) distribution conspiracy centered in and around the Sullivan County area and for being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition.  A-PVP is a synthetic drug which is commonly referred to on the street as “Gravel” or “Flakka.”

According to the plea agreement on file in U.S. District Court, White admitted that he conspired to distribute and was accountable for a conservative estimate of 1,800 grams of a-PVP between March 2012 and March 2014.  Additionally, White maintained a dwelling in Kingsport, Tenn., for the purpose of using and distributing a-PVP.  Multiple searches of this dwelling by Kingsport police officers resulted in seizures of a-PVP and/or items of drug paraphernalia.

In October 2013, during the search of a vehicle in Kingsport, a loaded .32 caliber handgun was located underneath the passenger seat where White was seated.  Officers also found eight .32 caliber rounds of ammunition, a set of digital scales and other items of drug paraphernalia on his person and in his jacket pocket.

Others involved in this a-PVP trafficking investigation include Austin Michael Stallard, Johnny Michael Stallard and Phillip Wayne Mullins, who were sentenced to serve 121 months, 180 months and 151 months in federal prison respectively.  White’s sentence of 120 months was ordered to run consecutively with his state sentences from Hawkins and Sullivan counties.

Law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation include the Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Department of Homeland Security Investigations; Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office; Kingsport Police Department; Hawkins County Sheriff’s Department; Johnson City Police Department; Greeneville, Tennessee Police Department; Hendersonville, North Carolina Police Department; and Scott County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Taylor represented the United States.

Nashville Field Division