Operation Stateline Sweep Defendant Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison for Drug Trafficking

TEXARKANA, AR—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Terreal Duke was sentenced today as a result of charges brought during Operation Stateline Sweep, a drug trafficking investigation that took place in 2011. Duke, age 32, of Texarkana, Arkansas, was sentenced to four years in prison without the possibility of parole on each of the two counts of using a communication facility in furtherance of the distribution of cocaine; the sentences will run consecutive for a total of eight years in prison. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release. The Honorable Susan O. Hickey presided over the case in the United States District Court in Texarkana, Arkansas.

U.S. Attorney Eldridge commented, “There can be no doubt that Texarkana and surrounding communities are a safer place as a result of the dedicated service and hard work of all agencies involved since the beginning of this operation. These criminal enterprises bring crime into our communities and drugs onto our streets, and we remain committed to working together to dismantle them in order to keep the residents of Southwest Arkansas and the Western District of Arkansas safe from this illegal activity and the threat of violence.”

On November 2, 2010, a confidential informant contacted Duke by phone to make arrangements to purchase cocaine. Later at the predetermined location, Duke conducted the sale of 54.1008 grams of crack cocaine to the confidential informant for $1,200 and was then immediately arrested by law enforcement. Upon arrest, Duke attempted to swallow a baggie later found to contain 13.5839 grams of cocaine. Duke was part of a 190-count indictment filed in September 2011, which named 66 defendants that have been prosecuted since that time and given a combined prison sentence of over 377 years.

This case was investigated by the Bi-State Narcotics Task Force, which is composed of representatives of the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department, the Texarkana Texas Police Department, the Miller County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Quinn prosecuted the case for the United States.