November 27, 2007
For more information contact:
AUSA Alan Sprowls
850-942-8430
FORMER STEINHATCHEE MAN CONVICTED OF DRUG CONSPIRACY IN STEINHATCHEE AREA
TALLAHASSEE -- United States Attorney Gregory R. Miller today announced that a former Steinhatchee man was found guilty of conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. After a three day trial, a federal jury deliberated for less than two hours and found Joseph L. Armstrong, also known as “Pepsi Joe,” age 66, of Lorida, Florida, guilty of a one count Indictment with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine between January 1997 and September 2006 in the Steinhatchee area.
Armstrong was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Tallahassee on July 10, 2007. He was arrested by federal and state agents on July 16, 2007 in Lorida, Florida on a federal warrant issued based upon the Indictment. On July 18, 2007 Armstrong appeared before a United States Magistrate Judge in Fort Pierce in the Southern District of Florida, was detained pending trial, and ordered removed to the Northern District of Florida for prosecution. On August 1, 2007, Armstrong appeared in this district and was arraigned on the charge. He was ordered detained pending his trial.
The trial of Armstrong commenced on November 19, 2007, and continued through November 20, 2007. The trial was recessed for the Thanksgiving holiday and was concluded today. Evidence at trial revealed that Armstrong, a former resident of Steinhatchee, was the leader of a drug enterprise that supplied more than 50 kilograms of cocaine to the Steinhatchee area for the past ten years. Six witnesses testified that Armstrong travelled from the Sebring, Florida area to the Steinhatchee area on a weekly basis, and provided cocaine to conspirators that was sold and used in the Steinhatchee area.
Following the verdict of guilty, the jury then considered the forfeiture of real property owned by Armstrong in Lorida, Florida. The jury then deliberated and returned a verdict forfeiting Armstrong’s interest in the Lorida, Florida real property based upon the use of that property by Armstrong to facilitate the drug conspiracy. The real property is appraised at $310,000.00
United States District Judge Stephan P. Mickle scheduled the sentencing for Armstrong for February 19, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee. Armstrong faces an enhanced sentence of a mandatory minimum 20 years imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment, a $8,000,000 fine, and 10 years supervised release.
United States Attorney Miller praised the efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office, and the Dixie County Sheriff’s Office, who have been conducting an extensive joint investigation into drug activities in the Steinhatchee area for the past two and a half years. Armstrong is the fourth individual to be convicted federally arising out of the joint drug investigation by the federal, state, and local agencies. Mr. Miller stated, “As the evidence at trial indicated, the investigation of the drug organization operating in the Steinhatchee area was a particularly difficult investigation. The agencies should be commended for their joint investigative efforts that combined a variety of investigative techniques that resulted in a strong, prosecutable case against an individual who provided large quantities of cocaine into the Steinhatchee area.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Kunz.