Newport businessman Raymond Eddie Hawk, 55, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Greeneville to helping lead a Cocke County-based racketeering enterprise involving "chop-shop" operations, insurance fraud, illegal drug distribution, and other crimes.

U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer accepted the guilty plea after asking Hawk dozens of questions in court to be sure he understood the ramifications of the plea agreement. He stated that he did.

The 17-page agreement, dated Feb. 26, was signed by Hawk, his defense attorney, Ronald C. Newcomb, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Smith, who signed on behalf of U.S. Attorney James Dedrick.

A federal grand jury that met in Greeneville on June 9, 2009, indicted 23 East Tennessee residents, including Hawk and 21 other Cocke Countians, on charges of conducting a racketeering enterprise, racketeering conspiracy, operation of a chop shop, interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles and property, receipt of stolen motor vehicles, altering identification numbers on motor vehicles and parts, trafficking in motor vehicles with altered identification numbers, and conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

Penalties for the charged offenses range from five to up to 40 years' imprisonment, with fines of from $250,000 to $2 million.

The 2009 indictment included 36 counts in all and represented an extensive investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and including the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Department of Revenue, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Forest Service, the Cocke County Sheriff's Office, and the Buncombe County, N.C. Sheriff's Office.

The agreement announced Wednesday states that the U.S. Attorney's Office, in exchange for the guilty plea, asks the court to dismiss the remaining counts against Hawk contained in the indictment, and to dismiss Hawk from the indictment.

The document points out that the punishment under federal law for conducting a racketeering enterprise is:

* a term of imprisonment of not more than 20 years;

* a fine of not more than $250,000;

* a term of supervised release of not more than three years;

* forfeitures;

* restitution;

* and a special assessment of $100.

Hawk, who has been free on a $20,000 bond for several months, agreed to turn himself in to the U.S. Marshal's Office in Greeneville on Tuesday, March 23, at noon, after he "ties up a few loose ends," his defense attorney said.

Hawk will then stay in prison until his sentencing before Judge Greer on Sept. 10, a date agreed upon Wednesday in court.

The plea agreement states, "The defendant has read the indictment, discussed the charges and possible defenses with defense counsel, and understands the crimes charged."

The agreement adds, "The defendant is pleading guilty because the defendant is in fact guilty."

The agreement is very detailed and specific in stipulations about the alleged illegal activities in which Hawk and others are alleged to have participated.

The stipulation -- citing names, dates, places, etc. -- consumes about 10 pages of the plea agreement.

The agreement stipulates that:

"At various times relevant to the Indictment, Raymond Eddie Hawk, Thomas Grant Williams, James Alfred Sisk, Eric Scott Williams, and others known and unknown, including H-1 Auto, later known as A Automotive, an automobile recycling and salvage business located in Newport, Tennessee, were members and associates of an enterprise (hereinafter the 'Hawk Organization') where members and associates engaged in illegal activity, to include operation of a chop shop, altering identification numbers on motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts, trafficking in motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts with altered identification numbers, devising and executing schemes to defraud insurance companies involving claims for purportedly stolen vehicles, and unlawfully distributing controlled substances (cocaine and marijuana), and which operated principally in Cocke County, Tennessee ..."

Hawk and Grant Williams, 33, of Newport, another of those indicted in June, are alleged to have been leaders in the racketeering enterprise.

The plea agreement is dated Feb. 26.

Judge Greer asked Hawk if he was entering the plea agreement without coercion and with a full understanding of it. Hawk replied that he was.

The judge also asked if he had taken any drugs in the last 24 hours that would impair his understanding of his plea.

Hawk said he took prescribed medicine for high cholesterol, blood pressure, and pain (hydrocodone).

In response to Greer's question, Hawk said he took the medicine only when instructed to do so by his physician.

Smith, the assistant U.S. attorney, charged Hawk with illegally contacting co-defendants in the chop shop case, including former felons, while out on bail.

Hawk and his attorney basically replied that those were chance encounters, and no illegal activities or transactions took place during them.

However, Greer warned Hawk that if he is again seen with a convicted felon, "I'm going to order a U.S. marshal to take you into custody (immediately) -- no questions asked."