News

Hendersonville man sent to prison on federal drug charges

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 18, 2020

ASHEVILLE –A 32-year-old Hendersonville man was sentencend to 13 years in prison on drug charges and ordered to serve five years under court supervision upon completion of his prison term, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced Thursday.

Federal agents caught Tristan August Fleming when he walked into a delivery store to pick up a package containing narcotics. Court records show that, in May 2018, Belgian Customs Officers intercepted a package addressed to “Taylor McKnight” that contained suspected narcotics, including MDMA, cocaine, ketamine and LSD. Law enforcement determined that the address on the package was that of a packing and shipping business located in Asheville. After retrieving the illegal substances, law enforcement in the United States arranged a controlled delivery of the package. On June 11, 2018, Fleming entered the shipping business in Asheville and claimed the package. Law enforcement arrested Fleming shortly thereafter.

Following a search of his vehicle, law enforcement located drugs in a hidden compartment in Fleming’s vehicle, a wallet containing multiple fraudulent driver’s licenses and drug paraphernalia. Elsewhere in the vehicle, law enforcement recovered thousands of dosages of LSD, and $1,020 in drug proceeds.
On October 22, 2019, Fleming pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute narcotics. Based on multiple prior drug trafficking convictions, Fleming was sentenced as a career offender.
In making the  announcement, Murray thanked HSI and USPIS for leading the investigation, and commended the North Carolina Highway Patrol for their assistance with this investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pritchard, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, prosecuted the case.