A Fort Smith man authorities call a “career offender” was sentenced Tuesday to 12.5 years for two counts of methamphetamine distribution, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas announced.
U.S. District Judge Paul K. Holmes also sentenced Vernice Charles Christian, 37, to three years of supervised release Tuesday in Fort Smith, U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said in a statement.
During the course of an investigation carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Fort Smith Police Department, Christian sold 2.8 grams of meth to a confidential source in Fort Smith on Oct. 31, 2013, and a half-ounce on Nov. 7, 2013, according to Eldridge’s statement. Christian was indicted Dec. 17 on two counts of meth distribution and found guilty April 18.
“At sentencing, Christian was determined to be a career offender due to having at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense,” Eldridge said.