Jury Convicts Monticello Man of Selling Methamphetamine Multiple Times

      LITTLE ROCK—A Monticello man has been convicted of selling methamphetamine three different times in 2018 following a two-day trial that featured videos of all three sales. A federal jury convicted Ramien “Rambo” Collins, 40, on all three counts for which he was indicted.

      The jury returned their verdict Wednesday morning after deliberating for approximately 30 minutes. United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr., presided over the trial, and Judge Moody will sentence Collins at a later date. Collins, based on his charges, criminal history, and the jury’s verdict, faces a statutory minimum sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, and an anticipated recommended sentencing range of 360 months to life in federal prison.

      A grand jury indicted Collins on September 5, 2019, on three counts of distribution of more than 50 grams of actual methamphetamine for transactions that occurred in September and November 2018. Testimony during the trial established that in 2018 the FBI developed a confidential informant who was being supplied with multiple pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine by Collins. The informant then made three purchases directly from Collins three different times—one-quarter pound of methamphetamine on September 12 and September 26, and three ounces of methamphetamine on November 7.

      At trial the jury heard evidence that Collins had previously been convicted of a federal drug trafficking crime and was on federal supervised release when he was selling methamphetamine in 2018.

      All of Collins’s offenses of conviction, in addition to the imprisonment ranges, include a potential penalty of not more than a $10,000,000 fine and not less than five years of supervised release.

      The investigation into Collins was part of the larger “Quack Attack” operation that resulted in the arrests of 15 defendants. During the course of Operation Quack Attack, investigators conducted 58 controlled purchases of drugs and executed two search warrants. Authorities seized more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, 229 grams of cocaine, 200 grams of crack cocaine, 128 grams of marijuana, and 6 firearms, as well as almost $17,000 in cash.

      This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

      The investigation into Collins was conducted by the FBI, the 13^th Judicial Drug Task Force, and the Arkansas State Police, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Julie Peters and Chris Givens.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is available online at

https://www.justice.gov/edar

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