Operation Dog Pound Defendant Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 12, 2011 |
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that today United States District Judge M. James Lorenz sentenced defendant Michael Dwayne Tryals, aka “Texas Mike,” to serve 20 years in prison, based on his jury trial conviction for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. On March 4, 2011, a federal jury convicted Tryals following a four-day trial.
According to court files, Tryals was charged in 2008, along with12 other individuals, in connection with a wiretap investigation by the Violent Crimes Task Force - Gang Group, dubbed “Operation Dog Pound,” into methamphetamine and crack cocaine trafficking by Lee Vaughn Walker, aka “Lee Dog,” and various members of the Lincoln Park Bloods and West Coast Crips street gangs, as well as their drug suppliers. Defendant Tryals is the final defendant to be sentenced in this case.
At the sentencing hearing, the lead prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew G. Schopler, pointed out that Tryals had been trafficking in crack cocaine from his girlfriend’s apartment, where her 5-year-old son lived. When agents arrested Tryals at this residence, his girlfriend and the 5-year-old were there. Agents seized digital scales with crack cocaine residue, cell phones, and other drug paraphernalia from the apartment.
The Violent Crimes Task Force - Gang Group is a multi-agency law enforcement group consisting of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), San Diego Police Department, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, San Diego Probation Department, California Department of Corrections, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as well as the United States Attorney’s Office and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.
United States Attorney Duffy praised all of the federal, state, and local law enforcement officials who were involved in this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. The OCDETF program was created to consolidate and utilize all law enforcement resources in this country’s battle against major drug trafficking.
| DEFENDANTS | Case Number: 08cr0256L | Sentence |
| Michael Dwayne Tryals, a.k.a. “Texas Mike,” a.k.a. Michael Tryls, a.k.a. Dave Brooks, a.k.a. Leon Howard Blair, a.k.a. Earl David Hollis | 240 months | |
| Lee Vaughn Walker, a.k.a. “Lee Dog” | 125 months | |
| Melvin Alexander | 144 months | |
| Eleodoro Castillo, a.k.a. “Onko” | 70 months | |
| Daphne Rosalinda Jackson, a.k.a. Daphne R. Rae | 120 months | |
| Bernal Anthony Mitchell, a.k.a. “Tony” | 51 months | |
| Allen Matthew Baker, Jr., a.k.a. “J.R.,” a.k.a. Tracy Reyard Diggs, a.k.a. Marcus Johnson | 90 months | |
| Bobby Shawn Lockhart, a.k.a. “Blue” | 100 months | |
| Alexander Weir, IV, a.k.a. “Brick” | 87 months | |
| Alexander Weir, V, a.k.a. “Lil’ Brick” | 60 months | |
| Hermelindo Medina, a.k.a. Felipe Medina | 30 months | |
| Melvin Andre Bibbs | 120 months | |
| Mark Edward Runnels, a.k.a. “Marky Mark” | 60 months |
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Title 21, United States Code, Section 846, 841(a)(1)—Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine Base in the Form of
Crack Cocaine
Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1)—Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine
(Defendants: Castillo-Urbina; Lockhart; Weir,V; Bibbs)
AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation
San Diego Police Department
San Diego Probation Department
California Department of Corrections
Federal Bureau of Prisons
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department