A Catawba County man received a prison sentence in a drug trafficking case. 38-year-old Joshua Lynn Whitmire of Catawba, was given an active prison sentence of six to eight years following his conviction for trafficking methamphetamine by possession and transportation. The sentence was imposed by Superior Court Judge Karen Eady Williams of Mecklenburg County after Whitmire entered a guilty plea during Catawba County Superior Court on Tuesday (August 18).

Whitmire will also be required to pay a mandatory fine of $50,000. Whitmire will serve the sentence at the end of the sentence he is currently serving. That sentence, which he received following a conviction for being an habitual felon, ends in April 2028.

On February 2, 2023, a traffic stop was conducted to address illegally tinted windows on a vehicle driven by the defendant. Whitmire admitted to having a burned marijuana cigarette in the vehicle during the stop, but a subsequent search resulted in the seizure of a trafficking amount of methamphetamine along with some drug paraphernalia and marijuana.

The investigation was conducted by Tyler Burgess of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant District Attorney Kyle Smith prosecuted the case for the State with assistance from Legal Assistant Amy Bishoff.