A Tupelo man was sentenced on today to 200 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana.

According to court documents, Jeremy K. Mairidith, 40, was convicted following his guilty plea in November of leading a drug trafficking organization that conspired to sell and distribute methamphetamine and marijuana.

On Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills sentenced Mairidith after hearing arguments and comments from Mairidith, his counsel, and prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner stated following the sentencing: “Today’s sentence demonstrates that individuals and drug trafficking organizations who bring narcotics and violence into our communities will not be tolerated. Our local, state and federal law enforcement partners who worked this investigation for years should be proud that the individuals involved were finally brought to justice.”

Mairidith was one of nine defendants convicted for his role in the drug trafficking organization.

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and FBI Jackson Division’s Oxford Resident Agency investigated the case as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods programs in partnership with state and local law enforcement.

Multiple agencies played critical roles in the investigation, including the Tupelo Police Department, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, North Mississippi Narcotics Unit, DEA, Corinth Police Department, Alcorn County Sheriff’s Office, Mississippi Highway Patrol, United States Postal Inspection Service, Mississippi Department of Corrections and the United States Marshal’s Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chad M. Doleac, Jay Hale and Scott Leary prosecuted the case.

This operation was one of many parts of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.

Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.

As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally-based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.