Federal jury in Greeneville convicts prisoner of meth production, money laundering

A convicted murderer accused of running a gang and a meth operation within the walls of a Tennessee state prison has been found guilty on drug and money laundering charges.

The trial for Charles Elsea, Jr., 44, was in US District Court in Greeneville and the verdict brings to an end a five-year investigation that included task force information from Elizabethton and Carter County.

Elsea’s crew would smuggle cell phones into his penitentiary where the drug operation would plan meth manufacturing and drop-offs across Tennessee. He will be sentenced in August.

(IMAGE: Tennessee Dept. of Corrections)