Two Members Of The Darrin Southall Continuing Criminal Enterprise Sentenced In Federal Court

MOBILE, AL - Two Mobile men, Adrian McGhee, 61, and Jadarrin Barnes, 23, were sentenced today in federal court on their convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine as members of the Darrin Southall drug trafficking organization.

According to court documents, Barnes was a distributor in the organization who sold cocaine to a confidential informant. The informant was equipped with electronic equipment that recorded the image of Barnes during the sale. McGhee was a courier for the organization who traveled to California and to Texas to pick up drug shipments and return them to Mobile. Southall bought a vehicle which was equipped with a concealed compartment for McGhee's use to transport drug money to Houston, Texas, and to return with multi-kilogram shipments of cocaine. Barnes and McGhee were intercepted during a court-authorized wiretap of Southall's phones. The calls implicated them as members of Southall's extensive organization and also constituted evidence of their participation in the drug distribution conspiracy. Barnes and McGhee each pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine during 2021.

United States District Court Judge Kristi K. Dubose sentenced McGhee to 60 months in custody, to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release. Judge Dubose sentenced Barnes to time served and ordered that he begin a five-year term of supervised release immediately upon his release. Both men will be subject to search upon reasonable suspicion that they have violated the conditions of supervision, and both are subject to drug testing and treatment. No fine was imposed but the judge ordered that each defendant pay $100 in special assessments.

U.S. Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama made the announcement.

The Mobile Police Department, the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the Saraland Police Department, the St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff's Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gloria Bedwell prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. 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. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.