United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LITTLE ROCK—A federal jury has convicted three men involved in methamphetamine and cocaine conspiracies that spanned from California to Texas to Arkansas and involved multiple pounds and kilograms of drugs. The trial, which spanned six days, ended Tuesday evening with guilty verdicts for Bruce McArthur Smith, 54, of Hesperia, Calif., Kevin Langel, 54, of Pine Bluff, and Larry Rogers, 71, of Benton. Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the verdicts.

The three men were initially indicted in November 2022. A federal grand jury returned a Superseding Indictment on January 6, 2026, charging Smith with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Langel and Rogers were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, with Langel’s charge involving more than five kilograms of cocaine and Rogers’ charge involving more than 500 grams, but less than five kilograms of cocaine. 

The evidence at trial proved that the controlled substances the three men were selling were ultimately being purchased, and redistributed, by Roderick Toney, 58, of Little Rock. Toney pleaded guilty on February 7, 2025, to conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm and is awaiting sentencing. 

At trial, the United States played phone calls between Smith and Toney that detailed multiple methamphetamine transactions. The investigation, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and North Little Rock Police Department, revealed that Smith knew individuals in Pine Bluff and came to Arkansas several times during the conspiracy period of 2020 through 2022. Toney received multiple pounds of methamphetamine directly from Smith at an apartment complex in Little Rock several times during that period. 

In June and July 2022, at the same time Smith was selling methamphetamine to Toney, Toney was purchasing kilograms of cocaine from Rogers. Evidence at trial detailed Toney and Rogers’ movements on July 14, 2022, when Rogers obtained money from a relative of Toney’s at a car wash and then traveled to a business off Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock where he met with Langel and obtained a kilogram of cocaine. Rogers then returned to the same car wash and distributed the cocaine to Toney. Evidence at trial showed that Rogers and Toney were involved in multiple cocaine transactions. 

In addition to the evidence that Langel was the source of supply of cocaine that Rogers obtained for Toney in June and July 2022, the United States presented evidence that Langel was engaged in numerous multiple-kilogram transactions of cocaine sourced out of Houston and Dallas in late 2022 and early 2023. 

 All three men were detained following the jury’s verdict and will be sentenced at a later date. Smith and Langel’s conspiracy charges carry a minimum sentence of 10 years, with a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a minimum of five years’ supervised release to follow. Rogers’ charge exposes him to a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 40 years, and four years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

The defendants who were convicted at trial were the last of 18 individuals involved in the case, which began in North Little Rock before expanding to California. All 18 defendants have now been convicted, with sentencing hearings for several defendants still pending. 

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Little Rock comprises agents and officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, New Orleans Field Division, Little Rock District Office, North Little Rock Police Department, and the Sherwood Police Department, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and North Little Rock Police Department, with assistance from the Sherwood Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Chris Givens and Amanda Fields.