NEWPORT-Three more defendants who are accused of criminal activity in connection with a four-year marijuana distribution conspiracy case entered guilty pleas in criminal court on Monday.

Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II accepted the negotiated plea agreements in the cases. One of the three defendants was placed on supervised probation in a plea-bargain and the other two will be sentenced by Judge Hooper in November and December.

The defendants who pled guilty on Monday are Gather Tyrone Lyles, 70, of Altoona, Alabama; Susan Scearce, 39, of 138 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; and David Douglas, 47, of 5850 Hiawatha Road, Morristown.

Three co-defendants in the case pled guilty in August, bringing the total number of defendants who have pled guilty in the case to six of 18. Another of the conspiracy defendants is expected to plead guilty before Judge Hooper on Tuesday.

55 count presentment

All 18 defendants are alleged in the 55-count presentment, handed down in January by the Cocke County Grand Jury, to have been involved in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana in the East Tennessee area led by co-defendants Charles Eddie Arms Sr., 65, of 385 Gardenia Road, and his wife, 61-year-old Mary O. Arms.

Assistant District Attorney General Brownlow Marsh told the court that the conspiracy began in January 2004 and continued until November 21, 2008. Prosecutors allege that the Armses purchased more than 300 pounds of marijuana from Alabama and Kentucky and headed up the distribution of the drug in the Cocke County area.

The state alleges that while Mr. Arms was serving a federal prison sentence for marijuana distribution, Mrs. Arms was in charge of the local distribution operation.

The presentment returned by the Cocke County Grand Jury on January 14 alleges that the 18 defendants participated in a conspiracy to buy and distribute more than 300 pounds of marijuana.

Lyles is alleged to have sold about 105 pounds of marijuana to Charles and Mary Arms in Alabama on September 6, 2008. The other defendants are alleged to have arranged for the sale of large and small amounts of the drug, of receiving shipments of marijuana, and of breaking down the large shipments into smaller packages for sale.

Lyles pled guilty on Monday to delivery of between 70 and 300 pounds of marijuana and was sentenced to ten years in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction. He was also fined $2,000 plus court costs.

Details of how much of the sentence must be served will be decided during a sentencing hearing before Judge Hooper on December 14.

Assistant District Attorney General Brownlow Marsh told the court that agents investigating the case intercepted telephone calls between Lyles and Charles "Eddie" Arms and that Lyles agreed to supply marijuana to his co-defendant.

That marijuana was provided to Arms in Alabama, brought to Cocke County, and divided and sold in the local community by other members of the conspiracy, Marsh said.

Scearce pleads guilty

Scearce pled guilty on Monday to conspiracy to sell between 70 and 300 pounds of marijuana and received an eight-year jail sentence. Details of how the sentence will be served will be decided by Judge Hooper during a hearing on November 17. She was also fined $2,000 plus court costs.

Prosecutor Marsh told Judge Hooper that Scearce sold a small amount of marijuana to an undercover Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) informant on March 4, 2008. She later sold a pound of marijuana to an undercover TBI informant on March 8, 2008, for $1,100.

Marsh said the criminal acts involved in the case occurred in Grainger County, but it was part of the Cocke County marijuana conspiracy. Scearce also faces charges in Grainger County and any sentence handed down against her in that county will be served concurrently with the local sentence, according to the plea agreement.

Douglas had minor role

Douglas, who played a minor role in the alleged conspiracy, pled guilty on Monday to a charge of attempted delivery of between 70 and 300 pounds of marijuana and was given a six-year jail sentence. But that sentence will be served on supervised probation and Douglas was also fined $2,000 plus court costs.

A vehicle seized from Douglas as part of the investigation may also be redeemed by the defendant, under the terms of the plea-bargain.

Other defendants

Other defendants named in the 55-count grand jury presentment and who are still awaiting  disposition of their cases are Kentucky resident Douglas Durham; Scottie Bailey, 39, of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; Lisa Darlene Large, 45, of 322 Lonesome Pine Road, Bybee; Donna Roberts, 53, of 9109 Highway 25-E, Thorn Hill; Timothy Wayne Evans, 49, of 170 Highway 160, Newport; Sandra D. Evans, 42, of 170 Highway 160, Newport; Misty L. Harris, 27, of 3419 Dedra Street, Morristown; Richard Lee Church Jr.; and Tonya Perry.

Defendants who pled guilty and accepted negotiated plea agreements on August 24 are Annie B. Dreadin, 69, of 152 Wilmoth Lane, Washburn; April Laws, 42, of Old Highway 25E, Thorn Hill; and Michael Dwayne "Bear" Wise, 49, of 127 Goins Cemetery Lane, Tazewell.

Agents of the TBI; the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force; the Cocke, Grainger, and Jefferson county sheriff's departments; the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Tennessee Highway Patrol were involved in the investigation.