United States Attorney Leura G. Canary Middle District of Alabama

GARGAMEL SENTENCED IN MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

Drug Dealer Sentenced

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA— Kelvin Artis, aka Gargamel, 36, of Atlanta, GA, plead guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of cocaine base on October 16, 2006. On April 16, 2008, he was sentenced to 293 months in federal prison, 5 years supervised release and $100 in court fees, announced U.S. Attorney Leura Canary.

In July 2003, narcotics officers with the Montgomery Police Department and federal agents with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) executed a search warrant at a residence in Montgomery. Agents had received information that Artis, then a Montgomery resident and known to investigators as a large-scale “mover” of narcotics through the Montgomery area, was using the home as a “stash house” from which he manufactured and distributed cocaine base or “crack”. When officers and agents entered the residence they found several loaded firearms, marijuana, 2 kilos of cocaine, digital scales, and crack, already bagged and ready to be sold.. On October 16, 2006, Artis entered a guilty plea to Possession of Cocaine Base (crack) with the Intent to Distribute.

At a sentencing hearing before United States District Court Judge, William K. Watkins, on April 15, 2008, Artis received a sentence of 293 months, 5 years Supervised Release and was ordered to pay $100 in court fees. The Court ordered the sentence to run consecutive to a 15- year sentence previously imposed by a circuit court in the State of Alabama for distribution of a controlled substance.

The case was investigated by the Montgomery Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Louis V. Franklin and Susan R. Redmond.