ABINGDON, Va. (WRIC) — A California couple has been convicted of trafficking methamphetamine in rural Southwest Virginia.

Sally Mae Carr, 42, of Meadowview, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of distributing more than 500 grams of meth, and was sentenced on October 11 to over seven years in prison.

But while Carr plead down, her boyfriend and supplier, Guy Benjamin Bowman, decided to go to trial, representing himself against two charges of distributing meth. He was ultimately convicted on both counts, and the jury also determined that the $7,000 found on Bowman at the time of his arrest were proceeds from drug trafficking, allowing the government to seize it.

According to prosecutors, Bowman and Carr moved to Southwest Virginia from California a little less than two years ago, shortly before they began dealing meth in early 2021.

The Law Comes Knocking

According to an affidavit filed early in the case, the DEA was first tipped off to Bowman and Carr’s activity in 2021 when a known user in Washington County told local police that Bowman had large amounts of meth in his home.

They were tipped off again later that year by a convicted trafficker, who told law enforcement that Bowman and Carr were receiving their meth from California and distributing it at a price of $650 per ounce.

Photos found on Bowman’s cellphone show large amounts of what appears to be meth, as well as a kitchen scale. (Exhibits submitted during the trial of Guy Bowman)

In March 2022, after buying meth from Bowman several times incognito, the DEA raided Bowman’s house, seizing 2 pounds of meth. When agents found Bowman — who was not at home — later that night, they found the $7,000 in his pants pockets.

When he was arrested, Bowman, unprompted, told agents, “I’m good at what I do” and “I’m connected with the Sinaloa Cartel.”

Bowman is set to be sentenced in November, and will likely face a much longer sentence than Carr, due to her guilty plea and Bowman’s second charge.