Matthew Don Dent
A man who earlier got a 15-year state sentence for second-degree murder has now been sentenced to 10 years in Federal Court.
Matthew Don Dent, 39, appeared before Judge Travis McDonough.
He earlier pleaded guilty on a meth charge as well as being a felon in possession of a weapon.
On May 31, 2019, the Soddy Daisy, Tennessee Police Department received a call that a suspicious male and female were in a PT Cruiser in the Varner Cemetery. An officer responded and located the PT Cruiser parked in the back of the cemetery. Dent was in the driver's seat, and a female (later identified as Latisha Webb) was in the passenger seat. Both front doors were closed, and the engine was running.
The officer instructed both individuals to show him their hands, and both refused to obey.
Prosecutors said Dent's movements caused the officer to believe he was retrieving something from the floorboard. At this time, the officer drew his weapon and again ordered the occupants to show him their hands. This time, Ms. Webb complied. However, Dent continued to ignore him for several more seconds, it was stated. Dent ultimately raised his hands and began exiting the car. Penny ordered him to re-enter the car, but he ignored that command and continued. Penny ordered him to lie face down on the ground.
The officer ran his K-9 around the vehicle, and the dog alerted on the driver's door. He then conducted a search of the vehicle. He noticed the intermittent smell of marijuana and located a partially smoked marijuana cigarillo in the passenger side floorboard.
A female officer searched Ms. Webb. A black nylon sunglass case was found concealed in her groin area. The sunglass case contained two plastic bags of suspected methamphetamine, a bag of suspected heroin, a cellophane wrapper containing 13 light green pills identified as oxycodone, a plastic baggie containing one and a half pills identified as methadone, one pill identified as suboxone, and a set of digital scales.
Officers found $3,120 in cash on Dent. This included $100 in $1 bills found in a wallet containing his Tennessee ID card; $25 found on the center console; and $2,995 bundled in three separate stacks in the left front pocket of his shorts.
Ms. Webb admitted that Dent was selling methamphetamine and heroin. She said the two of them had been together for around three months, and Dent was selling around $400-$500 worth of drugs per day approximately 3-4 times per week. She admitted that she drove him to pick up the drugs from his supplier, claiming to be the only person who did this since he did not trust anyone else to drive him.
Ms. Webb said Dent handed her the drugs when they were approached by the officer in the cemetery and told her to hide them. She said she had seen Dent with multiple firearms recently, saying that he recently sold her father a pistol and had given him a shotgun.
Ms. Webb consented to allowing a search of the room at her father's residence where she and Dent resided. In the bedroom used by Dent and Ms. Webb, law enforcement located five digital scales, a box of 18 .38 special rounds, five small baggies of suspected heroin (approximately .5 grams each), a baggie of approximately .5 grams of suspected methamphetamine, and a Mossberg 500A 12 gauge shotgun.
Ms. Webb's father told officers he was holding another shotgun (a Maverick Arms model 88 12 gauge) for Dent, which he also turned over to the officers.
Dent admitted he had been selling heroin and methamphetamine. He advised he was at the cemetery to sell narcotics before his arrest. He further admitted that the guns found in the house belonged to him.
The slaying of Chris Underwood happened Oct. 14, 2000 as hundreds of teenagers had gathered at the Big Lots parking lot on Brainerd Road.
Prosecutors said an argument had broken out when Dent wanted to drag race.