Johnson City Resident Sentenced to Serve Over Twenty-Two Years in Prison For Role in Conspiracy to Distribute Crack Cocaine

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – On August 17, 2017, Lamont Darnell Fortune, 37, of Johnson City, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, Senior U.S. District Judge, to serve 272 months in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in east Tennessee. Fortune was convicted of conspiracy in April 2017, following a two-day jury trial.

The evidence presented at trial showed that, from January 2011 to November 2015, Fortune conspired with others to distribute, and possess with the intent to distribute, 280 grams or more of crack cocaine. During this period, he made regular trips from Johnson City to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to obtain multi-ounce quantities of crack cocaine to supply his coconspirators, who then sold those drugs in Johnson City and Bristol, Tennessee. Fortune supplied crack cocaine to an individual working on behalf of law enforcement on two occasions. In May 2015, he led Virginia law enforcement on a high-speed chase on I-77, at speeds of over 120 mph, as he returned from picking up a shipment of crack cocaine. Three of Fortune’s coconspirators pleaded guilty prior to his trial and have been sentenced.

This long-term investigation was the product of a partnership between the Johnson City Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Gunn and Christian Lampe represented the United States at trial.

The investigation is a result of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multi-level attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.

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