Raleigh Man Convicted in Cross-Country Drug Conspiracy

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal jury convicted a Raleigh man last week on charges of drug trafficking, conspiracy, and illegal firearm possession for his role as a leader of a Raleigh-based drug organization that sourced drugs from Los Angeles, California and Newark, New Jersey. Lawrence Levon Jones, age 45, has eight prior felonies including seven drug trafficking offenses and one conviction for felon in possession of a firearm and he faces between 15 years and life in prison when he is sentenced next year.

“This is the ninth defendant to be convicted in a drug trafficking organization moving kilogram quantities of drugs in the Raleigh area,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “I am proud of the collaboration of our law enforcement agencies to dismantle this organization and put those accountable behind bars.”

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, during an investigation into drug trafficking activity which included surveillance and wiretaps, agents determined that Jones regularly traveled to Los Angeles and Newark, picked up money from conspirators who were holding for him, and purchased large quantities of cocaine and marijuana. Couriers transported the drugs to the Raleigh area.

On July 22, 2020, law enforcement in Texas stopped one of these couriers travelling eastbound from California and seized 400 pounds of marijuana and three kilograms of cocaine from a hidden compartment in the back of the truck that had been constructed to look like a large stack of lumber. That same day, agents arrested Jones when he arrived at his stash house in Raleigh. Inside the home, agents found 3.5 kilograms of cocaine, 138 grams of crack, 2 kilograms of marijuana, hundreds of ecstasy pills that contained methamphetamine, two handguns (one stolen), over $99,000 in cash, and five kilo presses. Over the next two days, agents executed multiple search warrants at homes used by Jones’s organization in Raleigh and California and seized nine guns over $757,000, and additional drugs. 

The prosecution of Jones was a part of Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Operation (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launders, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Other defendants associated with Jones pled guilty to drug trafficking and/or firearms offenses and received the following sentences imposed by U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III:

• Tyrone Bragg, of Raleigh pled guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and firearms charges and received a sentence of 168 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release;

• Calvin Lamar Kelley, of Keysville, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking conspiracy charge and received a sentence of 60 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release;

• Keishron Ko-She Kilpatrick, of Raleigh, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and firearms charges and received a sentence of 84 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release;

• Marquis Deja Brite, of Raleigh, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and firearms charges and received a sentence of 90 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release;

• Hurley Matthew Cannady, of Raleigh, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and firearms charges and received a sentence of 117 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release;

• David Earl Seawell, Jr., of Raleigh, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy charges and received a sentence of 78 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release;

• Wesley Kimball Kelley, of Atlanta, Georgia, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy charges and is awaiting sentencing; and

• Robert McNeal, of Raleigh, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III accepted the verdict. The Raleigh Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Peaden and Nick Hartigan are prosecuting the case. Investigators also received valuable assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the 32nd Judicial District Attorney's Office in Texas.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No.5:20-cr-00388-D-1.