Last Defendant Sentenced In Largest Drug Trafficking Organization Ever Dismantled In Louisville, Kentucky
- DEA investigation directly linked cocaine supply to Mexican Drug Cartel - Drug organization responsible for 100 kilos of cocaine per month distributed in Jefferson County
Contact: Public Information Officer
Number: (313) 234-4310
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kerry Dickerson of Louisville, Kentucky, was sentenced this week to 120 months in federal prison by U.S. District Senior Judge Charles R. Simpson III. Dickerson was the last of 26 defendants, to be sentenced in one of the largest drug trafficking organizations ever to be dismantled in Jefferson County, Kentucky. David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, and Robert L. Corso, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) jointly announced the sentencing.
“This final sentencing brings to a close the successful prosecution of a dangerous network of drug dealers,” stated U.S. Attorney Hale. “This exemplifies what can be accomplished when law enforcement collaborates across jurisdictional lines,” concluded U.S. Attorney Hale.
“This closes the book on one of the most significant drug trafficking organizations in the Louisville area. The McCarthy organization, including its out-of-state pipeline that brought devastating drugs into Kentucky, has been completely dismantled,” said Robert L. Corso, DEA Special Agent in Charge, Detroit Field Division, which covers the state of Kentucky.
All 26 defendants either pleaded guilty to charges or were found guilty at trial.
During the investigation and prosecution of this drug trafficking organization, more than 20 assault style rifles, 37 kilograms of cocaine, and $4 million cash were seized. According to evidence presented during the prosecution of the 26 defendants, including the trial of Abel Flores and Ramon Flores, the United States proved that hundreds of kilos of cocaine were brought into the United States through a Mexican drug cartel, to Jefferson County, Kentucky for distribution in the Louisville area through drug trafficking organizer Michael McCarthy. Further, the United States proved that the Flores brothers, who operated out of California, supplied the cocaine through a cross-country distribution network originating in southern California and involved 24 co-defendants, living in and around the Louisville area. This courier system returned between one and four million dollars to the Flores brothers each month. The conspiracy began in August 2007 and ran through May 10, 2010.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys J. Scott Davis and Robert B. Bonar and was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Louisville Division Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and (ATF) Louisville Field Division, and Metro Louisville Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana and Kentucky State Police.
