Madison County Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Marijuana Trafficking Conspiracy
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 29, 2013 |
BIRMINGHAM—A federal judge today sentenced a Madison County man to 30 years and five months in prison for his lead role in a North Alabama marijuana trafficking conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein, Jr., and Madison-Morgan County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force Commander Dewayne McCarver.
U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre sentenced Kingy Ossarius Holden, 34, of Toney, on one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 1,000 kilograms, or 2,200 pounds, of marijuana; four counts of distributing marijuana; and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, a Taurus handgun.
A federal jury convicted Holden in August. The jury also convicted three Huntsville men for conspiring with Holden to operate the Huntsville-based drug distribution ring between 2006 and 2011. Before the trial, eight other defendants in the case had pled guilty to various charges related to marijuana or cocaine distribution.
Holden was the ringleader of the marijuana trafficking conspiracy and “profited greatly from his crimes,” the government said in its sentencing memorandum to the court. Based on evidence at trial, Holden had no other means of support besides illegal drug distribution and dog fighting and breeding, the memorandum noted.
“Today, federal, state, and local law enforcement came together to take a leading drug trafficker off our streets,” Vance said. “I commend them for their work in dismantling this conspiracy and sending nearly a dozen drug dealers to prison,” she said.
“This multi-agency investigation dealt a significant blow to this criminal enterprise and has made our communities safer,” Schwein said. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners stand united in our commitment to identify, apprehend, prosecute, and dismantle drug trafficking conspiracies so that they are no longer a threat. I particularly want to thank the Madison-Morgan County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, whose efforts made this operation a success,” he said.
Trial evidence included conversations from federal wire taps that were conducted between July 2011 and September 2011. The wiretaps intercepted calls among all the defendants on trial and among most of the defendants in the case, in which they discussed the drug trafficking operation. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized $483,000, 17 firearms, about nine pounds of marijuana, and about 13 kilograms of cocaine from the illegal drug-distribution ring.
Convicted of the drugconspiracy at trial along with Holden were:
- Myrone Dewayne Tibbs, 35, of Huntsville
- Michael Arnez “Little Mike” Brown, 33, of Huntsville
- William Demetro “Little Will” Holden, 24, of Huntsville
The eight defendants who pleaded guilty before trial and their charges are:
- Ivan Fletcher, 37, of Toney; convicted felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
- Roy Christian Lee, 45, of Huntsville; conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine
- Cedrick Ramon “Ced” or “Big Ced” Carroll, 34, of Tuscumbia; conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute powder and crack cocaine, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
- Ashley Nicole Chunn, 25, of Huntsville; conspiracy to distribute marijuana
- Nathan Searcy Williams, 30, of Northport; conspiracy to distribute marijuana and four counts of money laundering
- Sharode Durome Pickett, 32, of Birmingham; conspiracy to distribute marijuana
- Lamaric Trevelle “Akbar” Douglas, 23, of Huntsville; conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana
- Napoleon Lee Ingram, 45, of Muscle Shoals; conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine
The FBI and the Madison-Morgan County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura D. Hodge, Enid D. Athanas and Jennifer Murnahan prosecuted the case.