Federal Judge Curtis Collier on Thursday sentenced Adam Hunnicutt to a mandatory 20 years in federal prison after he resumed selling meth following an earlier federal prison stint on the same charge.
He said he fell off the wagon after his mother died of lung cancer.
Hunnicutt told the judge, "I was doing good. I had a job. I had a son. Then my mother died rather sudden. It was just too much. I let my addiction get the best of me."
Prosecutors said Hunnicutt began selling meth some time after getting out of federal prison in 2007.
They said he also supplied items for Brian Tittle to cook meth.
They said other individuals traveled with Hunnicutt to Chattanooga, Atlanta, Knoxville and other locations to purchase meth-making products. One individual told of being with Hunnicutt for over a month while he cooked 10 to 20 grams of meth a day.
Another person said he bought meth-making items for Hunnicutt over an 18-month period stretching to late 2009 and saw him cook meth on several occasions.
Authorities said Hunnicutt personally purchased 246.72 grams of pseudoephedrine from October 2008 to August 2010.