Drug Trafficker Receives Seventeen-Year Sentence For Distributing Drugs In Vincennes Area
Methamphetamine, Cocaine, and Marijuana Transported from Mississippi to Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS, MN. - A 17-year federal prison sentence for Christopher Eason, 33, of Coldwater, Mississippi, was recently announced in the Southern District of Indiana. U.S. District Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson sentenced Eason following his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and related offenses. This case was the result of an investigation directed by the Evansville office of the Drug Enforcement (DEA), the Indiana State Police, Vincennes Police Department, (IN) Police Department, and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department.
Eason directed the activities of a drug trafficking organization that operated in the Washington and Vincennes area from April, 2009 through July, 2010. Eason obtained methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana from the Coldwater, Mississippi area and had the substances transported to Washington, Indiana.
Eason and his associates then distributed the drugs in and around Washington and Vincennes. All told, the organization distributed approximately four pounds of methamphetamine and multiple kilograms of cocaine, and marijuana.
This prosecution represents the most recent suppression of an illegal drug pipeline that operates between the Route 41 corridor in southwestern Indiana and Coldwater, a town in northwestern Mississippi.
Earlier, in 2001, the DEA conducted an investigation into a methamphetamine trafficking organization led by Coldwater natives Jerome Davis and Brian Davis along the Route 41 corridor from Evansville to Washington and Vincennes. More than 40 pounds of methamphetamine were seized during that investigation. Again, in 2005, the DEA and the Vigo County Drug Task Force dismantled a cocaine trafficking organization in Terre Haute that was operated by Coldwater natives Willie Hardiman and Leslie Hardiman. All of these prior defendants received significant sentences for their roles in trafficking drugs in southwestern Indiana.
“The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners in southwestern Indiana are committed to stopping the flow of illegal drugs into our state,” United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Joseph H. Hogsett said. “This latest conviction sends a serious message that drug trafficking in Indiana won’t be tolerated, and offenders will be punished with the full force of law.”
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley A. Blackington, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Magnus-Stinson also imposed five years supervised release following Eason’s release from prison. During the period of supervised release, Eason must undergo drug testing and is subject to random searches of his person, vehicle, and residence. Eason was fined in the amount of $1,000.
Parents and children are encouraged to educate themselves about the dangers of drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.
