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From Meth To Crack To Fentanyl: Here’s A Roundup Of Recent Sentencing On Drug Related Crimes

May 5, 2021

By a Biometrica staffer

In the last week or so of April, sentences were given out to various individuals who had committed drug-related crimes. Biometrica rounds up ten of those for you, based on statements published by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

South Dakota Man Sentenced To 34 Months For Methamphetamine Trafficking

A man from South Dakota who was convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, on April 19. Samuel Swift Bird, 30, was also asked to pay a $500 fine, a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims fund in the amount of $100, and forfeiture of three firearms and ammunition. On August 30, 2019, at a motel in Eagle Butte, Swift Bird knowingly and intentionally possessed five grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  He also possessed a handgun and over $6,000 in U.S. currency. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 9, 2020, and pled guilty on February 1, 2021.

Read more here.

Last Defendant In A Las Vegas Drugs, Firearms Conspiracy Gets 13 Year Sentence

A man from Las Vegas was sentenced on April 21 to 13 years in federal prison for selling methamphetamine and firearms. Ever Antonio Alvarado-Coronado, 29, conspired with co-defendants Daniel Luis Bowlin, Marquis Dion Patrick-Howard, and Dennis Green to distribute over 15 pounds of methamphetamine and to sell nine firearms in Las Vegas. Alvarado-Coronado, who has three prior narcotics convictions and was deported to Mexico in January 2014, engaged in this conspiracy after unlawfully reentering the United States. He pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Three other co-defendants in the case had already pled guilty.

Read more here.

Florida Man Gets More Than 10 Years In Prison For Selling Methamphetamine

James Carnley, 58, of Brooksville was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in federal prison for selling methamphetamine and possessing firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking offense. The court also ordered Carnley to forfeit three firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and $812, which had all been used by Carnley to facilitate his drug activities. He pled guilty on March 6, 2020. According to evidence, he had been selling ounce and kilogram quantities of methamphetamine out of his mobile home in Pasco County for years. When he was arrested, at that point he had been selling about one kilogram of methamphetamine per week.

Read more here.

High-Ranking Street Gang Member In Tennessee Gets Over 8 Years In Prison For Drug Trafficking, Firearm Violations

Albert “GEE GEE” Green, 25, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison as a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. When Green was arrested while trying to escape from law enforcement at a local gas station, they found in his car a Ruger 9mm caliber pistol loaded with one live round in the chamber and approximately seven live rounds in the magazine under the driver’s seat, and 56 white pills identified as 2mg Alprazolam located in the glove compartment. Green also had $4,762.00 in cash in his left front pocket, and a purple bandana tied to his jeans indicating his membership in the Grape Street Crips Gang. At the time of his arrest, Green was on state probation for sale of cocaine.

Alprazolam, or Xanax, falls under the benzodiazepines category, which are prescription sedatives commonly prescribed for anxiety or to help with insomnia. In 2019, 16 percent of overdose deaths involving opioids also involved benzodiazepines, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says on its website.

Read more on Green’s case here.

Wisconsin Man Sentenced To 6 Years For Methamphetamine Trafficking

Keefer Goodman, 29, of Madison was sentenced to  72 months in federal prison for possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. His prison term will be followed by four years of supervised release. When officers searched his car on July 21, 2020, while responding to a two-vehicle crash (of which Goodman’s car was one), they found found a loaded Ruger 9mm handgun on the front passenger seat. They also found  269.3 grams of methamphetamine, 7.3 grams of cocaine, 35.6 grams of marijuana, a pouch of baggies, a scale, and two switchblade knives. He was previously convicted of a felony and was prohibited from possessing a firearm. 

Read more here.

New Jersey Man Admits To Drug Conspiracy And Distribution Of Crack

A man from Essex County, New Jersey admitted to distributing and conspiring with others to distribute more than 28 grams of cocaine base in Stephen Crane Village. Nasir Williams, 24, pled guilty to an information charging him with one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine case and distribution of 28 grams or more of cocaine base. Stephen Crane Village is a public housing complex in Newark, on the border with Belleville, New Jersey. From at least February 2019 through February 2020, law enforcement officers investigated individuals that controlled an open-air drug market that operated there.

Read more here.

Wisconsin Woman Gets 7.5 Years For Distributing Methamphetamine

Diana Xiong, 39, was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for distribution of methamphetamine. This prison term will be followed by 4 years of supervised release. The charges in the case come after an investigation conducted by law enforcement officers in the summer of 2020. Xiong sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Menomonie, Wisconsin, on two occasions. She also sold the same confidential informant a firearm, although she is prohibited from possessing any because she is a convicted felon. At sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson explained that a substantial sentence was warranted because of Xiong’s consistent and disturbing pattern of drug distribution, which she continued even after serving state sentences related to distributing methamphetamine. 

Read more here.

Ten Members Of New Jersey-based UpTop Street Gang Charged For Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

Ten people have been charged for their roles as members and associates of “UpTop,” a Paterson, New Jersey-based street gang involved in the distribution of drugs, including heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine base. The count of conspiracy charged in the complaint carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a fine of at least $5 million, with a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years. The people charged are: Corey Boyd, 23; Leo Edwards, 27; Kwame Ellis, 30; Sean Morgan, 21; Brent Staton, 20; Kassan Drakeford, 31; Devin Kyle, 21; Edwin Diaz, 19; and Anthony Herring, 38, all of Paterson; and Stefan Cameron, 25, of Hackensack, New Jersey. The UpTop street gang operates primarily in the Fourth Ward of Paterson. Its members sell heroin that is frequently mixed with fentanyl, a potent, synthetic opioid that is approximately 50 times stronger than heroin.

Read more here.

Twelve Members, Associates Of New Jersey-based Harlem World/12th Avenue Street Gang Charged In Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

Twelve people have been charged for their roles as members and associates of “Harlem World/12th Avenue,” a Paterson, New Jersey-based street gang involved in the distribution of drugs, including cocaine base, heroin, and fentanyl. Those charged include: Michael Booker, 38; Kenron Boyd, 28; Ronald Hammond, 53; Damir Horne-Casper, 28; Marcell Jackson, 26; Roger Jacobs, 25; Damond King, 31; Naquis Martin, 24; Korri Muckle, 40; Troy Taylor, 35; and Shamir Thompson, 26, all of Paterson, New Jersey; and Tahj Smith, 20, of Haledon, New Jersey. This gang operates primarily around 12th Avenue and East 23rd Street in Paterson. Members of this gang distribute decks of heroin that are almost always stamped or labeled with various “brand names” in colored ink, to allow dealers and purchasers alike to differentiate and market batches of heroin. For example, on various occasions, glassine envelopes were stamped “Coca Cola,” “Larry Bird,” “Kobe Bryant,” “Paid in Full,” “Best Buy,” and “K.O.,” and have since October 2020 been linked to over 10 fatal overdoses.

Read more here.