Two Beloit Men Convicted in Federal Court of Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin

MADISON, WI—John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Maurice D. Vaughn, 38, and Maurice C. Lockhart, 37, both of Beloit, Wis., were convicted yesterday of conspiracy to distribute heroin, following a three-day jury trial before Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Conley in Madison.

At trial, witnesses testified that during the summer of 2010, Vaughn supplied 50 to 80 bags of heroin each day to Maurice Lockhart and Carlos Ford, who then distributed it in the Beloit area. Customers contacted Vaughn to arrange the heroin deals, then Vaughn would arrange for Ford or Lockhart to deliver the heroin to those customers.

Ford pleaded guilty to a federal heroin charge in early 2011 and was sentenced in August 2011 to five years in prison. The investigation began when Beloit Police became concerned in the summer of 2010 that there had been a number of heroin overdoses.

Chief Judge Conley scheduled sentencing for Maurice Vaughn on March 29, 2012 and Maurice Lockhart on April 9, 2012. Vaughn faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years in prison, to a maximum of life, because of a prior felony drug conviction, and up to a $4 million fine. Lockhart faces a minimum mandatory sentence of five years in prison, to a maximum of 40 years in prison, and up to a $2 million fine.

The charges against Vaughn and Lockhart were the result of an investigation conducted by the Rock County Safe Streets Task Force, which consists of the Beloit Police Department, Rock County Sheriff’s Office, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson.