Man led trafficking operation bringing meth into southwest Virginia while he was in prison there

ABINGDON, Va. – A man who led a meth operation from a Virginia prison was sentenced to 235 months in a southwest Virginia prison.

Adrian Romero, 31, of Georgia, is the first of four co-defendants to be sentenced in an interstate methamphetamine trafficking operation, according to U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen.

Romero admitted to leading the operation while he was in a southwest Virginia prison on other meth-related charged, according to Cullen.

For more than a year, Romero led a conspiracy with at least five other people to distribute meth from sources in Georgia to southwest Virginia and beyond, according to court documents.

Three other co-defendants, Veronica Martinez, 30, of Augusta, Georgia; Alison Atkinson, 30, of Augusta, Gerogia; and Clayton Lee Tate, 39, of Austinville, Virginia, will be sentenced later this year and early next year for their roles in the conspiracy.

Romero previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of meth.