Union City Man Sentenced to Over 19 Years in Prison for Methamphetamine Offense

Jackson, TN - Charles Belk, 51, of Union City, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 235 months in federal prison for possessing a large quantity of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it, in violation of federal law. D. Michael Dunavant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

According to evidence presented in court, on January 31, 2024, postal inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were alerted to a suspicious package that was mailed from California to an apartment complex in Union City. The package came to their attention because it had similar characteristics to previous packages that had been delivered to the same apartment complex and which had been tracked by an IP address in Mexico. After securing a federal search warrant on the package, law enforcement determined that it contained over 2,200 grams of suspected methamphetamine.

When law enforcement delivered the package to the apartment complex, Belk took the package-which was addressed to a different recipient and apartment number-into his possession and brought it into his apartment. A search warrant execution at Belk's apartment led to the seizure of an additional amount of methamphetamine, over $7,000 of U.S. currency, and several firearms. Further investigation revealed that Belk had been using his neighbors' names and addresses to receive prior packages. In all, the amount of actual methamphetamine involved was over 1,700 grams.

Belk pled guilty to two counts of possessing with the intent to distribute actual methamphetamine. On December 5, 2025, United States District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Belk to 235 months' imprisonment with five years of supervised release to follow. There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, "Methamphetamine continues to destroy individuals, families, and communities in West Tennessee, and we will continue to aggressively investigate, prosecute, and punish drug dealers to hold them accountable. Belk has sowed addiction and pain into the rural Northwest Tennessee community, and now he will reap the consequence of a long prison sentence."

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the 27th Judicial District Drug Task Force.

Assistant United States Attorney Immanuel Chioco prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

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