An East Tennessee man on probation when arrested by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper after being found with meth and digital scales pleaded guilty as a multiple offender and received a 16-year sentence.
Richard Jerico Pope, 30, Robbins, TN, was on probation in Scott County when THP Trooper Jordan Danner stopped him traveling north on Hwy. 127 approaching the Fredonia Road intersection Feb. 11, 2023.
The resulting search for weapons yield 13 grams of meth found in a coat pocket, along with digital scales and other items.
Pope appeared in Cumberland County Criminal Court July 15 and pleaded guilty to possession of more than .5 grams of meth with intent and as a Range II offender. He received the 16-year sentence at 35%.
Fine and court costs were waived, and items seized during the arrest were forfeited.
Pope is being given credit for 517 days he has already served in jail. The sentence is to be served concurrently with Scott County sentences.
Court records in Huntsville show on May 13, 2024, Pope pleaded guilty to an information in Scott County to possession of more than 26 grams of meth for resale, possession of marijuana for resale, possession of less than 26 grams of meth for resale and introducing contraband into a penal institution.
Pope received an eight-year sentence to be served concurrently with prior sentences in that county.
Charges of possession of a schedule II drug (meth) with intent, simple possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, no proof of insurance and two registration violations pending in Cumberland County General Sessions Court were dropped as a result of the plea.