GREENEVILLE — A Unicoi man indicted and arrested in June on drug and firearms-related charges has agreed to enter a guilty plea on two of the six charges he was facing, according to a plea agreement document filed Monday in U.S. District Court.
Billy Joe Rice, 108 Garland Road, Unicoi, was arrested June 13, the day after a federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment charging him with two counts of selling firearms to a prohibited person and one count each of selling firearms without a license, possession of stolen firearms, being a drug user in possession of a firearm and distribution of methamphetamine.
The plea agreement document states Rice has agreed to plead guilty to counts one and six of the indictment. Count one charges Rice, who was the owner and operator of Jerry’s Market, Unicoi Drive, with willfully engaging in the business of dealing firearms from Aug. 27, 2008, to May 17, 2012, despite not being a licensed firearms dealer. Count six of the indictment charges Rice with knowingly and intentionally distributing a quantity of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.
Read the expanded version of this report at the Johnson City Press Web site.