CHARLOTTE – Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Lillian Elaine Brady, 53, Cherokee, to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release on Thursday, Sept. 2 for trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl and other narcotics, announced William T. Stetzer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Asheville Post of Duty, and Chief Joshua Taylor of the Cherokee Indian Police Department joined Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer in making the announcement.
According to court records and Thursday’s sentencing hearing, in April 2020, law enforcement learned that Brady was a major supply source of methamphetamine and other narcotics in and around Cherokee. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Brady’s residence, seizing methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, oxycodone, morphine, and marijuana, drug paraphernalia, $3,725 in cash, a loaded firearm, and ammunition.
On Feb. 17, 2021, Brady pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
In a separate case, Judge Redinger sentenced Brandy Michelle Fohmann, 32, of Arden, to seven years in prison on Thursday, followed by four years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl in Henderson and Buncombe Counties. Court records in this case show that, between April and July 2020, Fohmann sold fentanyl on multiple occasions, including to an undercover law enforcement officer.
On July 14, 2020, law enforcement seized from Fohmann’s residence and vehicles fentanyl, two loaded firearms, drug paraphernalia and more than $4,900 in drug proceeds. According to filed plea documents, Fohmann admitted to selling fentanyl daily and engaging in 10 to 15 drug transactions per day. On April 21, 2021, Fohmann pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
In announcing Fohmann’s sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Stetzer thanked the DEA in Asheville, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hendersonville Police Department for their investigation of the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kent, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, prosecuted both cases.
– U.S. Dept. of Justice release
