Minimum sentence of over seven years in prison imposed in obstruction of justice case in Alexander County

Alexanderos Nikola Tsilianos, 40, who is listed online as a resident of Plumtree in Avery County, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and admitted to being a habitual offender. The guilty plea was made during a recent session of Alexander County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 89 to 119 months, or seven years, five months to nine years and 11 months in prison.

Tsilianos was taken into custody by the Alexander County Sheriff's Office last October on charges of obstruction of justice and habitual felon. In December 2023, he was booked into the Alexander County Jail on charges of illegal possession of drugs on jail grounds and was found to be in possession of fentanyl.

Before his arrest in October, Tsilianos had been released from prison after serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence in Mitchell County in 2018. He had been found guilty of several charges, including possession of Schedule II narcotics and habitual criminal mischief.

Tsilianos is serving his sentence at the Piedmont Correctional Institution in Salisbury.