United States Drug Enforcement Administration

COLUMBIA, S.C. - United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Alfredo De Jusus Ramirez, age 21, of Henry County, Georgia was sentenced in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina, for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846.  United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia sentenced Ramirez to 292 months in the Bureau of Prisons.

Evidence presented at the trial established that the United States Drug Enforcement (DEA) began an investigation targeting methamphetamine dealers in the Bamburg area of South Carolina.  The investigation revealed that Douglas Harry and Charles Wallace were the local dealers and that Harry would travel to Atlanta to obtain the methamphetamine.  Agents were able to identify Harry’s suppliers as Richard (deceased) and Tiffany Walden.  Through the use of various investigative techniques, to include Title III wire intercepts, pole cameras and toll analysis, DEA identified Proctor and Walden’s supplier as Ramirez.  Testimony established that Ramirez transported pound quantities of high quality methamphetamine, known as ICE, from Texas to Atlanta hidden in sealed cans of beans.  Ramirez then distributed the ICE to dealers in the Atlanta area, to South Carolina, and Tennessee.  DEA tested the methamphetamine at 96 to 100 percent pure, which reflects that the meth was made in a “super lab” south of the Texas border.     Ramirez is the final defendant of the conspiracy to be sentenced, with Wallace having been sentenced to 211 months, Harry to 115 months, and Walden to 60 months.  The case was investigated by agents of the DEA.  Assistant United States Attorney Beth Drake and Jim May of the Columbia United States Attorney’s Office prosecuted 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.dea.gov.,  www.justthinktwice.com and www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com.