STATESBORO, GA: A newly unsealed federal indictment charges nearly three dozen defendants for their involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy centered in south Georgia and reaching into the Caribbean. The primary conspiracy charge in USA v. Morales-Jimenez et. al, dubbed Operation Carpet Ride, carries a statutory minimum penalty of 10...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Darryl Hemphill, 34, of Rock Hill, pled guilty in federal court to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Rock Hill Police Department began to investigate a group of defendants who were...

MACON, GA - Thirteen defendants have been sentenced to terms of up to 15 years in prison after an extensive operation that targeted a middle Georgia drug trafficking conspiracy. Eight men and four women were indicted in February 2021 under Operation Breaking the Bond, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task...

AUGUSTA, GA – Seven people have been indicted on charges related to a major methamphetamine-trafficking organization blamed for at least one overdose death. As described in the newly unsealed indictment in USA v. Wheatley et. al, the investigation in Operation Wheat Fields dates back to early 2018 and includes allegations...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced James Julius Lumpkin, of Sevierville, Tennessee, to 156 months in prison and five years of supervised release for drug trafficking, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. Attorney King is joined in...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A drug investigation led by the Western District’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) has resulted in the indictment of six members of a poly-drug trafficking organization (DTO), announced United States Attorney Dena J. King. Brian Mein, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau...

AUGUSTA, GA: Three Augusta men face felony gun charges while three others also faces drug trafficking charges as Richmond County law enforcement officials pursue individuals associated with an increase in gang-related violent crime. Federal indictments returned in the March term of the Southern District of Georgia U.S. District Court Grand...

SAVANNAH, GA: One of the leaders of a violent Savannah-area drug trafficking network has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison. Kashif Collins, a/k/a “Fat Boy,” 35, of Savannah, was sentenced to 220 months in prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and...

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Rotiha Chan, 38, of Stockton, California, was sentenced on Friday, January 28, to 136 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine and distribution of 50 grams or more of a substance...