Transylvania County Drug Trafficker Is Sentenced To Over 10 Years In Prison

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - James Edward Frady, 39, of Brevard, N.C., was sentenced today to 130 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his role in a drug trafficking ring that distributed methamphetamine and cocaine in Transylvania County announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to documents and court proceedings, from 2021 to 2023, Frady was part of a drug trafficking network that distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine in Buncombe, Henderson, and Transylvania Counties. During the investigation, law enforcement determined that Frady frequently communicated with his drug supplier, Zachery Micah Rice, to buy the methamphetamine and cocaine that he then distributed within the Transylvania County area. On October 19, 2023, deputies with the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office arrested Frady for a traffic offense. Over the course of the traffic stop, law enforcement recovered from the passenger of the vehicle two plastic baggies containing 90.79 grams of methamphetamine and 56.51 grams of cocaine. Court documents show that Frady asked the passenger to conceal the drugs prior to being pulled over.

Frady pleaded guilty on February 21, 2025, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine. He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending placement by the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Rice was previously sentenced to 28 years in prison, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a machinegun.

In making today's announcement, U.S. Attorney Ferguson thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation the Henderson County Sheriff's Office, the Anderson County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina, the Asheville Police Department, the Waynesville Police Department, the Cherokee Indian Police Department, the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office, the Haywood County Sheriff's Office, the Swain County Sheriff's Office, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, the Clay County Sheriff's Office, and the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina for their investigation of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher S. Hess of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Asheville handled the prosecution.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).