United States Attorney Leura G. Canary Middle District of Alabama

MONTGOMERY BUSINESSMAN SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS
FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

U.S. Attorney Leura G. Canary of the Middle District of Alabama announced today that former Montgomery businessman, Leon Carmichael, age 54, convicted in June 2005 of drug trafficking and money laundering, was sentenced yesterday to 480 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson. This ruling was handed down after a two-day sentencing hearing which began on March 21, 2007. Carmichael has been in custody since his conviction in 2005, Judge Thompson having ruled post-trial that Carmichael posed a threat to the community. Carmichael received 480 months in prison for the drug conspiracy charges and 240 months for the money laundering charges, to be served concurrently.

On June 17, 2005, after a nine day trial, a jury found Carmichael and co-defendant Freddie Williams guilty of a decade-long marijuana distribution scheme. In addition, Carmichael was convicted of money laundering. Carmichael and Williams were arrested in November 2003, after more than 500 pounds of marijuana and numerous guns were found at Williams’ house. More guns and $5,000 in cash were found in Carmichael’s car. Carmichael was stopped soon after he was spotted driving by Williams’ house while law enforcement officers were executing the search warrant that led to the discovery of the massive amounts of marijuana. Prior to his conviction, Carmichael was a Montgomery businessman responsible for erecting and operating the Carmichael Center, a 3,000-seat entertainment venue in West Montgomery. The government presented evidence that Carmichael, through Carmichael Center promoter, Sherry Pettis, funneled substantial amounts of drug money through a Compass Bank account.

In sentencing Carmichael, Judge Thompson found, in accordance with the jury’s verdict, that Carmichael was involved in a drug conspiracy that spanned more than ten years, from 1993 to 2003, and involved more than 7,000 pounds of marijuana. He found that Carmichael was the leader of the drug conspiracy ring, and that the ring was extensive. He found that Carmichael possessed firearms in connection with the crime, warranting an enhancement of his sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines. Judge Thompson stated that it “defied logic” to say that the guns were not part of the drug conspiracy. Judge Thompson stated that the evidence was overwhelming that the conspiracy involved at least 7,000 pounds of marijuana and that Carmichael was directly responsible for all of it, rejecting defense counsel’s arguments to the contrary as “pie in the sky.”

Judge Thompson also granted Carmichael a sentencing enhancement for obstructing justice, finding that Carmichael knowingly introduced false tax returns at trial in an attempt to mislead the jury that his income was legitimate when it was not. Judge Thompson concluded that in sentencing he could take into consideration Carmichael’s prior conviction for murder in 1976. Although Carmichael was pardoned in 1991 on the stated basis of his “reformation,” Judge Thompson noted that within two years of his pardon, Carmichael was trafficking drugs in Montgomery.

U.S. Attorney Leura Canary stated, “We are pleased with Judge Thompson’s ruling. Yesterday we removed a dangerous drug trafficker from our community and made Montgomery safer. We have effectively dismantled an extensive drug conspiracy ring that operated at least 10 years and placed thousands of pounds of drugs in Montgomery’s neighborhoods. Moreover, evidence at trial showed Mr. Carmichael to have been a dangerous criminal who used violent means to further his criminal activities.”

Assistant Special Agent-In-Charge Greg Borland of the Drug Enforcement Administration stated, “The DEA is pleased with the sentence handed down yesterday, and believes such long sentences are designed for high-level, violent drug traffickers such as Mr. Carmichael. Although Mr. Carmichael has portrayed himself as a successful businessman and community leader, he was actually the leader of a drug trafficking organization who used violence and the threat of violence to control those who worked for him, and who otherwise manipulated those he saw as weak. The sentence handed down today will hold him accountable for his misdeeds.”

Once Judge Thompson announced his verdict, defense counsel for Carmichael pleaded for mercy and a reduction of the sentence. Judge Thompson held firm, stating that Carmichael was a scourge on this community and 40 years was an appropriate sentence.

After his conviction in June 2005, the government and Carmichael reached a settlement in which Carmichael agreed to surrender to the government the Carmichael Center, up to $1 million of property surrounding the Center, and one of his vehicles. The government presented evidence at trial that the Carmichael Center, which opened in August 2003 at a cost of approximately $1.8 million, was paid for with drug money. The Carmichael Center was operated by Leon Carmichael as an entertainment venue, housing concerts and other shows and events. In August 2006, the Carmichael Center was purchased by a group which intended to convert the site into a church. The court entered a final order of forfeiture as to the Carmichael Center and the other property.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, and numerous law enforcement agents and officers associated with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Prattville Police Department, Montgomery Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Alabama State Troopers, Alabama Bureau of Investigations and Chilton County Sheriff’s Office. Special thanks also goes to the United States Marshals Service, El Paso Police Department, Mississippi Department of Transportation, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, State of Alabama Forensic Sciences and State of Mississippi Forensic Laboratory. The case was primarily investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force Agent David DeJohn and Special Agent Louie Wilson of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Clark Morris and Stephen Feaga, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Moorer, now a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Alabama.