Raleigh Man Sentenced for Drug Trafficking

ELIZABETH CITY—United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court yesterday United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced Dontez Ruffin, 30, to 420 months’ imprisonment, followed by five years’ supervised release.

On December 1, 2012, Ruffin plead guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, 280 grams or more of cocaine base (crack), and a quantity of marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). This case was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation Damu Demolition.

The investigation demonstrated that Ruffin was a member of a drug trafficking organization operating as early as 2004 in and throughout Southeast Raleigh that was responsible for multiple kilograms of cocaine being cooked into crack cocaine and distributed into local communities. Ruffin and his co-conspirators were also responsible for the bulk distribution of high grade marijuana, more than 500 pounds of which were seized as part of the investigation.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force, consisting of the Raleigh Police Department, the Cary Police Department, the Garner Police Department, the Durham Police Department, the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, and the North Carolina Department of Probation and Parole. Assistant United States Attorney Denise Walker represented the government.