21/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 21/08/2024 21:42
STATESBORO, GA: Two newly unsealed federal indictments charge 23 defendants in widespread conspiracies that used drones to deliver methamphetamine, marijuana, and cell phones to Georgia state prisons.
The indictments, USA v. Hall, et al, and USA v. Harris, et al, were unsealed in U.S. District Court, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
The primary charge in each indictment, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute marijuana and methamphetamine, carries a statutory penalty of 10 years to life in prison, along with substantial financial penalties and at least five years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
"These indictments identify networks of individuals determined to introduce into prisons controlled substances and other contraband that compromise the safety and security of individuals who are held in those facilities and those employed there, and further endanger members of the outside public," said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. "We're grateful to the many federal, state and local law enforcement agencies whose cooperative work unraveled these criminal operations."
Investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces by agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Georgia Department of Corrections Criminal Investigations and Intelligence divisions, with assistance from multiple local law enforcement agencies, Operation Night Drop identified two networks of prison inmates and outside conspirators who used drones and other methods to deliver large quantities of drugs, cell phones and other contraband to Smith State Prison in Glennville, Ga., Telfair State Prison in McRae-Helena, Ga., and various other Georgia state prisons. The indictments allege the conspiracies began as early as 2019 and continued through July 2024.
In addition to the conspiracy charges, multiple defendants are charged with Unlawful Use of a Communication Facility, and the indictment provides detailed information revealing the use of cell phones to coordinate the sale of drugs and other contraband, direct activities of conspirators outside the prisons, and arrange deliveries of contraband to the prisons using drones. Text messages and Facebook Messenger exchanges between the defendants included aerial images of prisons, drug quantities and prices, and photos of drones, drugs, and cell phones, and of materials and equipment used for packaging contraband.
The indictments include notices that the government seeks the forfeiture of a total of 10 drones and 21 firearms seized during the investigation.
The 15 defendants charged with conspiracy in USA v. Hall, et al., are:
Seven of the eight defendants named in USA v. Harris, et al., are charged with conspiracy:
The eighth defendant, David Williams, 35, of Atlanta, is charged along with Ash with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime.
Of the 23 defendants in the two indictments, six were not in Department of Corrections custody at any time during the conspiracies, and each of them is alleged to have been in contact with incarcerated co-defendants in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Operation Night Drop was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Georgia Department of Corrections Criminal Investigations Division, the Georgia Department of Corrections Intelligence Division, and local law enforcement agencies including the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office, Telfair County Sheriff's Office, Tattnall County Sheriff's Office, Calhoun County Sheriff's Office, Cobb County Sheriff's Office, the McRae-Helena Police Department, and the Eufala, Ala., Police Department, and is being prosecuted for the United States of America by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy P. Dean and Patricia G. Rhodes.