The U.S. Supreme Court ensured Monday that a Chattanooga man convicted in a drug conspiracy won’t have to pay the government about $70,000 prosecutors claimed he owed in proceeds.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned the unanimous decision, ending a two-year appeals battle Terry Honeycutt waged from federal prison after a jury found him guilty in 2014 of knowingly selling a product with his brother that could be used to make methamphetamine.
Honeycutt, a former employee of the Brainerd Army Store, is expected to finish his 60-month sentence in June 2018. But in the meantime, some defense attorneys say, Monday’s decision could have lasting implications on the power prosecutors can use to seize money and other assets and property from defendants.
“I think Honeycutt now puts burden on the government to prove each defendant is responsible for illegal proceeds,” said Chattanooga defense attorney Jonathan Turner. “Each defendant to actually ‘obtain’ them. In this case, Tony owned the place, Terry just worked for them. So Terry was guilty of the crime because he was actually selling the paraphernalia, but he wasn’t profiting from the store. He got a fixed salary, no matter what was sold.”
The Department of Justice did not return a request for comment Tuesday when the Times Free Press asked to speak with Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall. That’s the attorney who argues Supreme Court cases for the government.