Montgomery Man Found Guilty of Conspiring to Bring Cocaine into Alabama from Texas

Montgomery, Alabama - On September 25, 2024, a federal jury convicted 45-year-old Vanshun Traywick, a resident of Montgomery, Alabama, on federal drug conspiracy charges, announced Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson.

According to court records and evidence presented during Traywick's trial, in 2020, law enforcement began an investigation related to a suspected drug-trafficking operation bringing cocaine from Texas to Montgomery. The investigation revealed that Traywick ordered kilogram quantities of cocaine from a co-conspirator, 45-year-old Michael Golden, from Houston, Texas. The cocaine would be delivered to Montgomery by another co-conspirator, Rufus Flanagan, 56, also from Houston. On October 20, 2020, law enforcement in Montgomery conducted a traffic stop of a semi-truck driven by Flanagan. Upon searching the vehicle, officers found a bag with approximately one kilogram of cocaine inside. In addition to arranging for the purchase of large quantities of cocaine from Golden, the investigation also revealed that, on October 13, 2020, Traywick purchased two ounces of cocaine from another co-conspirator, 51-year-old Deneco Nettles, also from Montgomery. The jury found Traywick guilty on two counts of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Following his conviction, Traywick faces a sentence between 5 and 40 years in federal prison. Earlier this year, Golden, Flanagan, and Nettles all pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges. On June 18, 2024, Nettles received a sentence of 18 months in prison. Golden's sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 3, 2024. Flanagan's sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 5, 2024. A sentencing hearing for Traywick will be scheduled in the coming months.

This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, and Montgomery Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark E. Andreu, Justin L. Jones, and B. Chelsea Wilson are prosecuting the case.