JACKSON, Tennessee — A Dyersburg man has been sentenced to a total term of 31 years in federal prison for drug trafficking offenses, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee announced.
According to evidence presented in court, in August 2024 a Dyersburg Police Department officer on patrol witnessed two men fighting in front of a residence. Both men fled when the officer arrived. The officer found a rental vehicle left running with its driver-side door wide open, containing a large quantity of crack cocaine and over 250 fentanyl pills, as well as marijuana, ecstasy and a substance later identified as methamphetamine. Near the centre console were Vinson Brent Taylor's cellphone and a car rental agreement in his name, and a hat with distinctive embroidery found near the vehicle contained Taylor's DNA, according to forensic analysis by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
On May 5, 2026, a federal jury found Taylor, 46, guilty on two counts of trafficking crack cocaine and fentanyl. At a sentencing hearing on October 20, 2026, U.S. District Judge S. Thomas Anderson noted the serious nature of the crime and Taylor's extensive criminal history and sentenced him to 30 years' imprisonment, the department said.
Taylor had previously served a 151-month sentence in federal prison for trafficking crack cocaine and was on federal supervised release when he committed this crime, prosecutors said. The government presented additional evidence of other conduct on supervised release, including possessing over 800 grams of marijuana in April 2024 and evading police in October 2024, which resulted in an additional year of imprisonment — bringing the total to 31 years. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Dyersburg Police Department, the United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Immanuel Chioco and Adam Davis, the department said.