Chattanooga drug dealer pleads guilty to selling heroin that caused Red Bank overdose

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – On the second day of his trial, Darius Jermaine Blakemore chose to enter a guilty plea instead.

“Tank” as he was known on the streets, admitted to selling heroin that resulted in a death, along with selling cocaine, crack and heroin.

Prosecutors say Blakemore sold a gram of heroin to Jessica Rachels for $200 in a fast food restaurant parking lot a year ago.

One of his runners, Joshua Corbett, delivered it (already convicted of distribution of heroin that caused a death).

Rachels (pleaded guilty) then gave some of the heroin to Logan Whiteaker, who drove her there.

The next day, he was found dead at his home in Red Bank from an overdose.

U.S. Attorney Nancy Stallard Harr say “Heroin has proven to be a deadly poison that does not discriminate.”

“Its victims include every gender, race, age, and economic background, and its debilitating effects are the same across all demographics. Statistics show that in 2016, heroin deaths surpassed gun homicides for the first time in more than 15 years.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee will not stand idle as the death toll continues to rise. We will use all available resources to hold drug dealers like Blakemore, who seek to profit from this epidemic, accountable for their actions.”

Blakemore gets a 23 year prison sentence.

John McGarry, Resident Agent in Charge of the DEA Chattanooga Office stated, “The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and its task force partners from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Red Bank Police Department, the Chattanooga Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will investigate and pursue overdose deaths in southeast Tennessee to the fullest extent of the law. The prosecution of Darius Blakemore stands as an example of this coalition’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable elements of our community from the persistent threat of heroin.”