Texas man sentenced to prison for orchestrating Chicago-to-Dayton drug distribution
DAYTON, Ohio – Robert W. Stroud, 45, of Houston, Texas, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 12 years in prison for crimes related to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and violating supervised release from an earlier conviction.
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin C. Glassman and DEA Detroit Division Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Plancon announced the sentence handed down on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice.
According to court documents, from between September 2016 and June 2017, Stroud conspired with others to possess with intent to distribute more than 15 kilograms of cocaine in the Southern District of Ohio and elsewhere. Among his acts, on June 15, 2017, Stroud coordinated with a supplier to obtain nearly five kilograms of cocaine near Chicago.
In furtherance of the scheme, co-defendant Jordan Smith drove from Dayton to Bolingbrook, Ill., on June 15, 2017, and thereafter met with the supplier at Stroud’s direction and with money provided by Stroud. Smith gave the money to the supplier, and in return Smith took possession of the roughly five kilograms of cocaine. Police seized the drugs a short time later when they conducted a traffic stop of Smith in Illinois.
Stroud committed this offense while serving a term of supervised release arising from a 2009 firearm conviction in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. His aggregate 12 year prison sentence is based upon an 11 year prison sentence for the new conspiracy offense, and one additional year for the supervised release violation. Judge Rice also imposed a $10,000 fine.
Co-defendants Jordan Smith and Kenneth Thompkins have also pleaded guilty in relation to this case and await sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation by the DEA, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Michael J. Hunter and Andrew J. Hunt, who represent the United States in this case.
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