Pitkin Woman Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Drug Charges
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Investigation Code Named Broken Hitch

LAKE CHARLES, LA—United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that Kimberly Ann Thompson, age 39, of Pitkin, Louisiana, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison and five years’ supervised release for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi as a result of Thompson’s guilty plea in March of 2012.

In May 2011, Thompson and three others were indicted on drug charges as a result of a joint Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation conducted by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. On June 11, 2010, while traveling from Houston to Louisiana, Thompson and her co-defendant, Harlis Ramsey Martin, were stopped by Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s deputies in Sulphur, Louisiana, for illegally tinted windows. Thompson was found to be in possession of 21 grams of methamphetamine. Martin admitted to manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine with Thompson and also going to Texas to obtain methamphetamine.

Both of Thompson’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Thomas Dwain Tilton, Jr. pled guilty on February 24, 2012, and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 30, 2012, in Lake Charles; Harlis Ramsey Martin pled guilty on March 9, 2012, and was sentenced on June 14, 2012, to 140 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Finley stated, “Methamphetamine continues to have a destructive and deadly effect on our communities. We hope this case sends a message that anyone who traffics in these types of drugs will face serious consequences. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with its law enforcement partners, will not be hindered or deterred in the prosecution of these cases.”

OCDETF is a joint federal, state, and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national- and regional-level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisiana State Police, and Texas Department of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Grayson.