News Releases
INDICTMENT UNSEALED: 22 CHARGED IN LARGE SCALE DRUG SCHEME
March 17, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Gregory Jones, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Kenneth A. Smith, Special Agent In Charge, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Vernon Keenan, Director, Georgia Bureau of Investigation; and other members of the Northwest Georgia Criminal Enterprise Task Force announce that a federal indictment has been unsealed and 22 defendants in North Georgia in the process of being arrested on charges related to a scheme to distribute methamphetamine, marijuana, and powerful prescription drugs. According to Nahmias:
The indictment charges all 22 defendants as being part of a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances, including methamphetamine, marijuana, and various prescription drugs, including anti-depressants (Xanax) and pain killers (Lorcet), and eight of the defendants with possession and/or use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
The following are the individual defendants and the charge(s) against them:
ROY CARL SMITH, 69, of Borden Springs, Alabama, drug conspiracy and possessing a gun during drug trafficking; SUSIE MOTES TERRY, 52, also of Borden Springs, Alabama, drug conspiracy; ROSEMBERG BERRERA BELTRAN, 40, of Cedartown, Georgia, drug conspiracy; WILFIAN PEREZ-VASQUEZ, 28, of Cedartown, Georgia, drug conspiracy; EBERSAUL AMBROCIO, a/k/a “Ever Ambrosio,” 21, of Cedartown, Georgia, drug conspiracy; RICARDO AVILES, age unknown, of Duluth, Georgia, drug conspiracy; ROGELIO TAPIA, age unknown, of Duluth, Georgia, drug conspiracy; TIMOTHY WAYNE MORRISON, a/k/a “Tim Morrison,” 44, of Piedmont, Alabama, drug conspiracy and possessing a gun during drug trafficking; CLAUDE WAYNE COLE, JR. 31, of Muscadine Junction, Alabama, drug conspiracy and using a gun during drug trafficking; DAVID LEE BELL, 49, of Muscadine Junction, Alabama, drug conspiracy; KEVIN FLOYD LaPIER, 52, of Piedmont, Alabama, drug conspiracy and possessing a gun during drug trafficking; SHEILA LANFAIR, 39, of Borden Springs, Alabama, drug conspiracy; LARRY KEN DRYDEN, a/k/a “Jack Dryden,” 58, of Tallapoosa, Georgia, drug conspiracy; CHRISTOPHER GERALD SMITH, 31, of Cedartown, Georgia, drug conspiracy; RICHARD LEE DINGLER, 23, of Cedartown, Georgia, drug conspiracy; JERRY EDWARDS, 55, of Borden Springs, Alabama, drug conspiracy; ROBERT JASON POLLARD, 28, of Borden Springs, Alabama, drug conspiracy and using a gun during drug trafficking; DONNIE WAYNE McFRY, 31, of Cleburne County, Alabama, drug conspiracy and using gun during drug trafficking; PHILLIP WAYNE ERWIN, 39, of Cedartown, Georgia, drug conspiracy and using a gun during drug trafficking; JEFFREY SCOTT SEWELL, 31, of Borden Springs, Alabama, drug conspiracy and using a gun during drug trafficking; CHARLES MOTES, 56, of Jacksonville, Alabama, drug conspiracy; and TONY “LNU” (last name and residence unknown), drug conspiracy.
At a news conference announcing the charges, federal, state and local law enforcement officials noted that the drugs were transported from the Cedartown, Georgia, area, to Northeast Alabama for further distribution and resale, and that at least 600 pounds of methamphetamine had been distributed as part of the scheme between July 2001 and October 2004.
United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the case, “Local law enforcement alerted us to a disturbing series of violent crimes that they determined to be connected, and the connection was drugs. The unsealing of the indictment today and the arrests of these defendants illustrates the ability of many law enforcement agencies to come together to fight that connection of drugs and violent crime that has victimized communities in Georgia and Alabama. The defendants poisoned the communities with dangerous drugs, and terrorized its citizens with crime. They will now face justice.”
Nahmias also noted that “This case is unique in its widespread connections throughout North Georgia, and the many law enforcement jurisdictions that have been working on various leads and connections in what is alleged to be a large scale drug conspiracy. This case began at the request of a number of individual law enforcement agencies, who were investigating drug transshipments, as well as a series of violent crimes, which they said appeared to have a common thread in the drug distribution trade. Some of those crimes are still under investigation. These federal charges are the direct result of law enforcement agencies pursuing the evidence around Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama.”
Assistant Special Agent In Charge of the FBI Arthur D. Webster said, “Over the last several years we have seen the production, distribution, and use of methamphetamine grow exponentially. Along with that, we have seen the devastation caused to our communities by this dangerous and highly addictive drug. This assault on our society includes an increase in the violent crime that is typically associated with drug trafficking, but is even more prevalent in the methamphetamine trade. This is a serious problem and what you see here today is the serious response to that problem by the FBI and our partners in state, local, and federal law enforcement. I would like to thank the agents from ICE, the GBI, and the members of the Northwest Georgia Criminal Enterprise Task Force for their tireless work on this case.”
The indictment also contains a forfeiture provision seeking to seize properties and weapons allegedly involved in the drug conspiracy, including:
36044 County Road 49, Piedmont, Alabama; 24499 County Road 49, Piedmont, Alabama; 271 County Road 215, Piedmont, Alabama; 45 County Road 215, Piedmont, Alabama; 726 Piedmont Highway, Cedartown, Georgia; 212 Georgia Highway 120, Tallapoosa, Georgia; and numerous firearms.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Northwest Georgia Criminal Enterprise Task Force, which is comprised of law enforcement agents and officers from the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Floyd County Police Department, the Polk County Sheriff’s Department, and the Polk County Police Department. Also aiding in the investigation and arrests were the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Cedartown Police Department, the Cleburne (AL) County Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s offices of Polk County, Floyd County and Cleburne-Calhoun Counties (AL), and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. Since its inception in January 2004, the Task Force has been responsible for the arrests of over 40 people related to this investigation.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kim S. Dammers and William Traynor are prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney or Katherine B. Monahan, Chief, Terrorism, Violent Crimes and Firearms Unit, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.