Georgia-based supplier of methamphetamine sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for drug trafficking
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Charles Michael Ledford, 50, of Conyers, Georgia today to 324 months in prison for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Reidinger also ordered Ledford to serve five years under court supervision.
Joining U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement was the Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Robert J. Murphy, which oversees the Asheville Post of Duty; Sheriff of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Bobby Deese; Sheriff of the Swain County Sheriff’s Office, Curtis A. Cochran; and Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, D. Victor Reynolds.
According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, between October 2016 and September 2018, Ledford was a major supply source of methamphetamine to drug networks operating in North Carolina and Georgia, responsible for distributing significant quantities of narcotics in the two states. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers conducted controlled purchases of methamphetamine and executed drug seizures in both states, which netted nearly nine pounds of methamphetamine, 65 firearms, and over $30,000 in drug proceeds.
On Oct. 9, 2019, Ledford pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He is currently in custody. Upon designation of a federal facility, he will be ordered to report to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.
This investigation was conducted by the DEA in Asheville; the Clay County Sheriff’s Office; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; the Swain County Sheriff’s Office; the Macon County Sheriff’s Office; the Highlands Police Department; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; and the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kent, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, is in charge of the prosecution.
The DEA encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.justhinktwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com, www.campusdrugprevention.org and www.dea.gov. Also follow DEA Atlanta via Twitter at @DEAATLANTADiv.
