Texas Drug Source Pleads Guilty In Multi-State Cocaine Conspiracy
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Rodney D. Butler, a/k/a “Rodney Davenport,” 48, of the Houston, Texas, area, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute more than 50 kilograms of cocaine and conspiring to launder tens of thousands of dollars in cocaine-derived currency. The plea was announced today by A.D. Wright, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Butler is the twelfth defendant to plead guilty in the case.
During his plea, Butler admitted to supplying and distributing large amounts of cocaine in and around Houston, Texas, Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Florida panhandle between 2012 and 2014. During the investigation, Butler was intercepted over a federal wiretap arranging for the payment and transportation of multiple kilograms of cocaine. Butler conspired with co-defendants Nastassja Sassau and Terrance Stone to launder drug proceeds through Butler’s Wells Fargo bank accounts in Texas and Pensacola.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 18, 2015, before Chief United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola, Florida. Butler faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, at least five years supervised release, and a maximum fine of $10 million dollars.
This investigation was conducted by the DEA Pensacola Resident Office, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gulf Breeze Police Department, the Pensacola Police Department, the State Attorney’s Office for the 1st Judicial Circuit, and the Louisiana State Police. This case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
