Joseph Hinnard
A man who was found unconscious in his still-running car at a Walmart parking lot in Chattanooga has wound up with a 15-year federal prison sentence.
Joseph Hinnard, 42, appeared before Judge Charles Atchley.
He earlier pleaded guilty to meth and gun charges. He got 10 years for the meth and five years for gun possession during the commission of a felony. They sentences are to be served consecutively.
Just before 8 p.m. on June 12, 2021, officers were knocking multiple times on his car window. Officers could see he had an unlit cigarette in his mouth and a pile of cash in his lap.
He was parked diagonally across two parking spots.
After opening the door and finally rousing Hinnard, officers found a large amount of cash on the passenger seat, a torch-style lighter, a pocket knife, and an aluminum foil packet believed to hold illegal drugs.
Officers found 12 individual bags of meth each containing about 32 grams each.
They found a loaded Ruger .22-caliber pistol behind the radio in the dashboard. $5,505 cash, a scale and drug paraphernalia.
Hinnard admitted that he was selling the drugs and had the gun for protection.