Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ABINGDON, Va. — A Wise County man was sentenced yesterday to serve 10 years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine and illegally possessing firearms.

Randall Scott Hileman, 56, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, to possessing with the intent to distribute and distributing methamphetamine and to possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He was sentenced today to serve 120 months in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, Hileman’s conviction stems from five undercover drug transactions in 2021 and 2022 during which Hileman sold methamphetamine to informants. When law enforcement in Wise County attempted to arrest Hileman on outstanding warrants in September of 2022, a standoff ensued, and Hileman was found to be in possession of four firearms and assorted ammunition. Due to his multiple felony drug convictions, Hileman is prohibited from possessing any firearms.

After his arrest, Hileman admitted his connection to co-defendant Justin Elliott, who law enforcement had previously identified as a methamphetamine trafficker as a result of Elliott’s August 2021 arrest in Coeburn. That arrest resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of methamphetamine and several additional firearms. As a result of this investigation, both Hileman and Elliott admitted not only to being involved in the distribution of methamphetamine throughout Southwest Virginia, but also admitted they trafficked a massive quantity of crystal ice methamphetamine into the same area over the course of a two-year span, including over 30 kilograms of methamphetamine, some of which was 100 percent pure. In May, Elliott was sentenced to serve 188 months in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Special Agent in Charge Craig B. Kailimai of the Washington Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, made the announcement.

The ATF, the Coeburn Police Department, the Norton Police Department, the Wise County Sheriff’s Office and the Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force investigated the case.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Suzanne Kerney-Quillen, a Senior Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Attorney General’s Major Crimes and Emerging Threats Section, prosecuted the case for the U.S.

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