United States Drug Enforcement Administration

AUGUSTA, GA - A Burke County man has admitted taking part in an operation that distributed methamphetamine after investigators discovered the scheme through delivery of a commercial pill press.

Telly Savalas Carswell, 47, of Midville, Ga., pled guilty in U.S. District Court to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and To Distribute Methamphetamine, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The charge carries a possible penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

“Criminals like Mr. Carswell rely on pill presses to create dangerous counterfeit medications which contain toxic substances such as methamphetamine, as was the case in this investigation,” said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division Robert J. Murphy. “DEA and its law enforcement partners are committed to keeping our neighborhoods safe from dangerous drugs.”

“Our law enforcement partners, particularly the investigators from the Drug Enforcement administration, did an outstanding job in discovering and shutting down this meth-trafficking operation,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes. “Whether it’s in the larger cities or smaller towns of the Southern District, we are determined to eradicate this poison from our communities.”

The DEA began the investigation in January 2020 while investigating the delivery of a commercial pill press to the home Savalas shared with a co-defendant. In conjunction with the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, DEA agents conducted a search on May 7, 2020 of the residence and found a pill press, along with methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs; nearly $9,000 in cash; and paraphernalia related to drug trafficking.

The case is being investigated by the DEA and the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, and prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Josephson.   

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.

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