Armed Drug Trafficker Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
MADISON, Wis. – John G. McGarry, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Wisconsin, and Timothy M. O’Shea, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Larry Cole, 41, of Painsdale, Michigan, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 10 years in prison for possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The defendant pleaded guilty to this charge on Aug.31, 2021.
In August 2020, law enforcement agents received information that Cole was a large methamphetamine trafficker in Wisconsin and Michigan. On Sept. 9, 2020, the police stopped the defendant’s car in Rock County, Wisconsin. During a search of the car, police officers found three pounds of methamphetamine and a firearm. Cole admitted that the methamphetamine and firearm belonged to him.
The charge against Cole was the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation; Rock and Florence County Sheriffs’ Offices; Illinois State Police Multi-County Enforcement Group; Wisconsin State Patrol; and the Michigan K.I.N.D. Drug Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Reinhard and Robert Anderson prosecuted this case.
