NORFOLK, Va. - A federal jury convicted a Gloucester, Virginia man on charges of drug trafficking and related weapons charges.
Court records say 40-year-old Eric Lee Smith was part of a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in Gloucester County and surrounding areas in 2019 and 2020.
Smith and other conspirators brought methamphetamine from Arizona to Virginia, where Smith stored it in various locations and distributed it for profit. Smith also possessed firearms in the course of the conspiracy.
On November 25, 2020, Smith was in possession of an illegal machine gun and unregistered silencer, which he used to shoot another individual.
Smith was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, using and maintaining drug premises, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, illegal possession of a machine gun, and possession of an unregistered firearm.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 15 years and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment across the various convictions prison when sentenced on August 8.
