United States Drug Enforcement Administration

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Patrick Lemuel Bass of Taylor County, was sentenced to eight years in prison for his part in methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. Bass is the last of 25 defendants sentenced in a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking organization operating primarily within Taylor and Madison counties in Florida, and Colquitt County, Georgia.

During the fall of 2017, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force began investigating the distribution of methamphetamine commonly referred to as “ice” within Taylor and Madison counties. A total of 25 defendants were charged in a series of indictments returned in 2017 and 2018. The defendants were convicted and sentenced for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute varying amounts of methamphetamine. The investigation also involved numerous undercover controlled purchases by law enforcement during the trafficking conspiracy.

 The defendants and their sentences are:

• Robert Shane Willis, Taylor County, Florida, 108 months in prison;

• Robert Edward Lee, Madison County, Florida, 102 months in prison;

• Takayla Rene Sanders, Colquitt County, Georgia, 96 months in prison;

• Patrick Lemuel Bass, Taylor County, Florida, 96 months in prison;

• Robert Wayne Cornwell, Taylor County, Florida, 96 months in prison;

• Joseph Brian Stafford, Taylor County, Florida, 96 months in prison;

• James Antony Farrill, Taylor County, Florida, 84 months in prison;

• Keith Eric Sadowski, Taylor County, Florida, 78 months in prison;

• Christopher Keith Irvin, Taylor County, Florida, 72 months in prison;

• Jessica Rae Mauldin, Madison County, Florida, 72 month in prison;

• Kevin Wayne Knippel, Colquitt County, Georgia, 72 months in prison;

• Eric Jason Gilbreath, Taylor County, Florida, 72 months in prison;

• Bryan Heath Willis, Taylor County, Florida, 66 months in prison;

• John Wayne Dixon, Taylor County, Florida, 60 months in prison;

• Christopher Castleberry, Colquitt County, Georgia, 60 months in prison;

• Marlo Howard, Madison County, Florida, 48 months in prison;

• Travis Ryan Crosby, Madison County, Florida, 48 months in prison;

• Joshua Lynn Gilbreath, Taylor County, Florida, 48 months in prison;

• Brandon Douglas Hall, Colquitt County, Georgia, 42 months in prison;

• Lisa Marie Ezell, Taylor County, Florida, 39 months in prison;

• Jerry Franklin Sapp, Madison County, Florida, 36 months in prison;

• Raymond Cody Williams, Madison County, Florida, 366 days in prison;

• Samantha Agner Crouse, Taylor County, Florida, 12 months in prison;

• Jamie Lynn Baumgardner, Taylor County, Florida, 8 years of supervised release; and

• Miranda Marie Stafford, Taylor County, Florida, 5 years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration Tallahassee Resident Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the Perry Police Department, and Monticello Police Department in Florida; the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office and the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia; and the Florida Highway Patrol and Florida National Guard. It was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.  

 More information about this case can be found at www.flnd.uscourts.gov.