Home Portland Press Releases 2010 Operation Gang Strike Results in 13-Year Federal Prison Sentence Federal Judge Says that James Ray “Lonnie” Yoakum...
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Operation Gang Strike Results in 13-Year Federal Prison Sentence Federal Judge Says that James Ray “Lonnie” Yoakum Was the “Brains” Behind Large Cocaine Trafficking Conspiracy

U.S. Attorney’s Office May 24, 2010
  • District of Oregon (503) 727-1000

PORTLAND, OR—Today U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Jones sentenced James Ray “Lonnie” Yoakum, 58, of Portland, Oregon to serve 13 years in federal prison for leading a conspiracy that distributed vast quantities of cocaine in the Portland metropolitan area. On his release from prison, he will also be required to serve five years of supervised release. On February 4, 2010, Yoakum pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.

In December 2008, officers and agents with the Metro Gang Task Force started Operation Gang Strike, an investigation targeting criminal organizations and gang members responsible for dealing firearms and selling large amounts of both crack and powder cocaine in the Portland metropolitan area. The investigation, which eventually resulted in the federal indictments of 24 individuals, revealed that James Ray “Lonnie” Yoakum was the head of a large-scale cocaine trafficking organization. As the leader of this operation the defendant would obtain kilograms of cocaine from sources in California and Oregon and then distribute the cocaine, either by himself or with the assistance of others, to large and mid-level dealers in the Portland metropolitan area. This cocaine distribution organization included people affiliated with local street gangs. Through the use of Court authorized wiretaps, the government was able to show that the defendant was responsible for the distribution and possession with the intent to distribute between five and 15 kilograms of powder cocaine. The defendant was arrested in September 2009.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Jones noted that the defendant was a “gang leader” who was the “brains” behind a large drug trafficking conspiracy responsible for “polluting this community with cocaine and crack cocaine.” The Court further stated that the sentence was warranted, in part, to deter others from similar conduct.

“We’re going after drug distribution from the top down—to stem the violence that comes with drug dealers and gangs, and the decimation of families caused by drug addiction,” said U.S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton. “The defendant was a leading source of cocaine and all that comes with it—but thanks to the work of the Metro Gang Task Force, he’ll be spending the next 13 years in federal prison.”

DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Paul W. Schmidt stated, “This positive outcome is the result of Portland Policing Agencies and Departments working together with Portland community and prevention groups to better our lives and neighborhoods.”

"This sentence sends a message to every other drug trafficker and gang leader in Oregon", said Arthur Balizan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. "We will not—and our community will not—tolerate the destruction of our children's future because some pusher wants to make a quick buck selling crack."

The investigation was led by the Metro Gang Task Force, which is comprised of the United States Attorney’s Office, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, and law enforcement officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Portland Police Bureau, Gresham Police Department, Milwaukie Police Department, Beaverton Police Department, Tigard Police Department, and the Hillsboro Police Department. Other agencies that substantially assisted in this investigation include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Portland Police Bureau Gang Enforcement Team, the Portland Police Bureau Drugs and Vice Division, Washington County’s Westside Interagency Narcotics (WIN) Task Force, the Regional Organized Crime and Narcotics (ROCN) Task Force, and Oregon Department of Human Services.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott M. Kerin and Jane H. Shoemaker, members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Gang Unit, and Assistant United States Attorney Amy E. Potter, a member of the Forfeiture Unit.

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