Joshua Corbett
Logan WhiteakerA 27-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to selling a heroin mixture that resulted in the February overdose of a Hamilton County Drug Court graduate.
Joshua Corbett will be sentenced Nov. 21 for conspiracy to distribute a mixture containing a detectable amount of heroin and distribution of a mixture and substance containing heroin that resulted in another person's death.
Corbett faces a maximum term of 40 years in prison, a fine up to $2 million, and six years of supervised release. He was taken into custody June 30 after a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment that tied him, Jessica Rachels and Darius Blakemore to Logan Whiteaker's overdose. Federal documents show Rachels will plead guilty at an Aug. 29 court date. Blakemore, meanwhile, has until Sept. 20 to file a plea agreement. Otherwise, there's a jury trial scheduled for Oct. 4.
Within 24 hours of graduating from Drug Court, Whiteaker was found dead in his Red Bank home by a family member. There was a hypodermic needle and a plastic bag that contained heroin beside him, records show.
Logan Whiteaker, center, stands with members of his family as he and others are honored at Drug Court graduation on Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, in Chattanooga. Less than one day after Hamilton County Drug Court celebrated the graduation of 11 participants, Whiteaker was found dead in a Red Bank home, a hypodermic needle next to him on the floor and a small amount of suspected heroin on the bathroom counter, according to a police report.Corbett's plea agreement illuminates what federal prosecutors believe happened that night:
As the sun sank on Feb. 22, Rachels and Whiteaker arrived together in the McDonald's parking lot on Rossville Boulevard with $200. As he had done numerous times for Blakemore, Corbett sold them one gram of heroin around 6 p.m., according to prosecutors. Corbett took the money back to Blakemore's car, then Rachels and Whiteaker "parted ways shortly thereafter," records show. The agreement does not say whether Rachels and Whiteaker used the heroin before departing.
Also Read
Arrests bring some closure to mother of man who died after graduating drug court
Roughly three weeks later, Corbett agreed to speak to Michael Thompson, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Corbett admitted to running the heroin for Blakemore, usually buying two to three grams from him a week.
He also admitted to "personally distributing" a mixed substance containing heroin on at least 20 occasions. Although the agreement does not name the substance, several officials in March pinpointed fentanyl, a synthetic opiate 50 times stronger than morphine, as the new culprit for many overdoses.
Whiteaker's mother, Dawn Harrison, said she found out about the guilty plea early Monday - the same time she planned to speak to the newest class of Drug Court graduates. She addressed the four graduates, and those in waiting. It was a promise she'd made to her son and his colleagues back in March: She would always come back, no matter how painful the memories.
"Now the hard part's going to start, since they're clean and nobody's looking over their shoulder," she said of what she told the graduates.
And to those in waiting: "You're doing good. One day, you'll be up here."
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeter son@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.
