On August 22, 2006, a federal grand jury sitting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, indicted Jack Burchett, age 52, 852 Amerine Road, Maryville, Tennessee, for retaliation causing bodily injury against a federal grand jury witness, a violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1513(a) and (c). It is alleged that on August 15, 2006, the victim associated with this retaliation charge testified under subpoena from the United States before a federal grand jury sitting in Knoxville, Tennessee. The grand jury returned an indictment against Burchett for a violation of federal firearms laws codified at 18 U.S.C. §
922(g)(1). It is alleged that Burchett’s alleged physical assault against the witness was in direct retaliation against the witness for her grand jury testimony. On August 16, 2006, United States Magistrate Judge H. Bruce Guyton issued a criminal complaint
and arrest warrant against Burchett based on the retaliation charge. Contemporaneously, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force located Burchett in Blount County and arrested him without incident on the original firearms charge. Burchett was arraigned on all charges, and ordered detained pending trials scheduled for October 24, 2006, and November 1, 2006. The United States Attorney’s Office in Knoxville, Tennessee, which is prosecuting Burchett on both charges, will file a motion in United States District Court to consolidate both cases for trial before a single jury. If convicted, Burchett faces a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years on each charge. United States Attorney James R. “Russ” Dedrick stated that the United States Attorney’s Office and federal investigative agencies will vigorously pursue any sort of witness tampering and witness retaliation allegations whenever they might arise in the Eastern District of Tennessee.

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