MADISON, WI—John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Marcus Payton, 30, Beloit, Wis., was arrested without incident earlier today by the FBI in Beloit. In a three-count indictment returned by a grand jury on October 8, 2104, Payton was charged with distributing heroin and crack cocaine. The indictment alleges that on April 25 and May 5, 2014, he distributed heroin and on August 11, 2014, he distributed crack cocaine.

If convicted, Payton faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each charge. The charge against him is the result of an investigation by the GROC Safe Streets Task Force. GROC (pronounced gee-rock) is a task force formed through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Violent Crime Initiative, to address gang and drug-related violence in Rock County through the coordination of investigations among local and federal law enforcement agencies. Its members include the FBI, ATF, the Rock County Sheriff’s Department, and the Beloit Police Department. The prosecution of this case will be handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie S. Pfluger.

You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.