United States Drug Enforcement Administration

STATESVILLE, N.C. – A federal jury in Statesville has convicted Alfonso Roman Brito, 43, of trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell presided over the three-day trial which ended on Wednesday.

Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office, Ronnie Martinez, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in North Carolina and South Carolina, Robert Schurmeier, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Sheriff Banks Hinceman of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Donald G. Brown II of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents, evidence introduced at trial and witness testimony, in 2019, HSI, the DEA, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office were investigating a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) operating in the Catawba County, Burke County, and surrounding communities. Trial evidence established that Brito was an inmate in the Georgia Department of Corrections and was coordinating the shipments of multiple kilograms of methamphetamine from the Atlanta area into the Western District of North Carolina. According to information presented at trial, between 2019 and into the fall of 2021, Brito orchestrated the delivery of more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine from Georgia into North Carolina.

The federal jury convicted Brito of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine, which carries a maximum term of life in prison and a $10,000 fine. Brito remains in federal custody. A sentencing date has not been set.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney King commended the DEA, HSI, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office for leading the investigation. U.S. Attorney King also thanked the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, the Newton Police Department, the Hickory Police Department, and the Georgia Department of Corrections for their assistance in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville is prosecuting the case.

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.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com, www.CampusDrugPrevention.gov, and www.dea.gov . Also follow DEA Atlanta via Twitter at @DEAATLANTADiv.

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