AUGUSTA, GA: Ten people have been indicted in an Augusta-area drug trafficking conspiracy linked to another large-scale drug trafficking prosecution. As described in the newly unsealed indictment in USA v. Fields et. al, the investigation parallels the indictments in USA v. Wheatley et. al, together dubbed Operation Wheat Fields, and...

NEW BERN, N.C. –A New Bern man was sentenced on September 30, 2022, to 118 months in prison and 60 months of supervised release for trafficking heroin and fentanyl in December 2018 and January 2019. On April 15, 2022, Quentin Tavaris Bryant pleaded guilty to the charges. “Working together with...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Ronald Keith Scronce, 65, of Lincolnton, N.C., to 168 months in prison and five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. According to filed documents and...

WAYCROSS, Ga. – The lead defendant in a Waycross-area fentanyl and heroin trafficking operation has now pled guilty, joining the other five defendants who admitted their roles in the conspiracy. Eric Lashawn Hayes, a/k/a “Pee Wee,” 28, of Blackshear, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm...

BRUNSWICK, GA – A newly unsealed federal indictment charges 14 defendants in a South Georgia drug trafficking conspiracy alleged to have been directed from inside a Georgia state prison. The indictment in Operation Pope’s G.O.A.L., an Organized Crime Drug Trafficking Task Force investigation, alleges the drug trafficking conspiracy distributed methamphetamine...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jose Velasquez, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced yesterday to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release for drug trafficking, money laundering, and illegal reentry, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge...

NEW BERN, N.C. – Michael Hall, 34, of Duplin County, was sentenced to 180 months in prison for charges related to drug trafficking and firearms. Hall was convicted of the following charges: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Darryl Hemphill, 34, of Rock Hill, pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Rock Hill Police Department began to investigate a group of defendants who were...

FLORENCE, S.C. – Darryl Lamont McKenith, 33, of Aynor, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute heroin and fentanyl. Evidence presented to the court showed that McKenith was involved in a multi-year conspiracy to distribute...

AUGUSTA, GA – Seven people have been indicted on charges related to a major methamphetamine-trafficking organization blamed for at least one overdose death. As described in the newly unsealed indictment in USA v. Wheatley et. al, the investigation in Operation Wheat Fields dates back to early 2018 and includes allegations...