A man described as a key player in a methamphetamine trafficking ring was sentenced today after he took a guilty plea instead of going to trial following his arrest along with 27 others in a combined Drug Task Force case between Polk and Floyd counties.
Chad Garrison, considered by police as a major co-defendant in the case, was sentenced in the Tallapoosa Circuit Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon on two counts of trafficking and two counts of selling methamphetamine, according to District Attorney Jack Browning. Garrison, a Floyd County resident, was arrested in September 2019 alongside Jennifer Garrison at their home on Eden Drive, where police found meth and weapons.
Judge Mark Murphy handed down 60 years of prison time for Garrison. He’ll serve 30 of those years, Browning said, and additionally have to pay a $400,000 fine.
His non-negotiated guilty plea came earlier today and provided his attorney and Browning the opportunity to argue for and against a harsh sentence. The judge sided with Browning in handing down the decades of prison time.
Browning added that Garrison will still face charges in Floyd County Superior Court for his part in the methamphetamine distribution ring.
Garrison’s sentencing today comes over a month after another defendant in the case, Amanda Dempsey, was sentenced to 20 years of prison time.
Browning said he was especially grateful for the hard work of both the Polk County and Rome-Floyd Drug Task Forces for their effort put into the 2019 case. He said though the public might not realize it, big operations handed by the DTF locally make a difference in street-level activity over time since it takes the supply away from those seen on corners selling narcotics in the community.
“We have taken down major drug organizations operating in the county thanks to the hard work of the Task Force,” Browning said.
This particular case also saw defendants charged with street gang activity for their involvement in the Aryan Brotherhood and saw the confiscation of four pounds of meth and firearms
Browning expects additional pleas to be forthcoming involving the case in the near future.
