According to a press release from the United States’ District Attorney’s Office, Danny Lee Cathey, 53, of Water Valley, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in United States District Court, Paducah, for the knowing possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it.
Candace G. Hill, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, and Paul Vido, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Louisville Field Division, jointly announced the sentencing March 12.
Chief Judge Thomas B. Russell, United States District Court, also sentenced Cathey to eight years supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal judicial system.
Cathey was apprehended in Hickman, Oct. 14, 2008 on drug charges. At the time of his arrest law enforcement evacuated a two-block area at KY 94 and KY 1099 during Cathey’s arrest, when it escalated to include “possible hazardous items” in the vehicle Cathey was driving.
Cathey had been found guilty by a jury for the knowing possession of 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable quantity of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance in November 2009.
On Oct. 14, 2008, law enforcement officers recovered approximately 89 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine from the trunk and engine compartment of the motor vehicle being operated by Cathey.
In addition, approximately $13,000 in U.S. currency was located in a container with three plastic baggies of methamphetamine found in the engine area. Approximately $937 in U.S. currency was recovered from the person of Cathey. The street value of the drugs was approximately $11,500.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Sparks.
The Bowling Green Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation in partnership with the Kentucky State Police and the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force, as part of ATF’s ongoing commitment to reduce violent crime and other threats to public safety.
