United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

WICHITA FALLS AREA MAN SENTENCED
TO 30 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE

Defendant Manufactured and Distributed Methamphetamine
in the Wichita Falls, Texas Area

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that Shannon Ray Long was sentenced today in Dallas by the Honorable Jerry Buchmeyer, United States Senior District Judge, to 30 years imprisonment, without parole, for his part in a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine in the Wichita Falls, Texas area. Long, age 33, is from Iowa Park, Texas, just west of Wichita Falls.

U.S. Attorney Roper said, "This office is committed to making communities safer and the people of Wichita Falls should rest assured that drug dealers who ravage their community will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I applaud Judge Buchmeyer’s sentence today --- this defendant deserves every one of the 360 months he imposed.”

In September 2005, a federal grand jury in Dallas returned a one-count superseding indictment charging Long and 10 co-defendants with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Long has been in custody since his arrest on September 25, 2005 and in November he pled guilty to the superseding indictment.

The facts reflect that Long and others began a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine in the Wichita Falls area in April 2002. During the course of the conspiracy, Long and others were caught by local authorities with methamphetamine or with supplies, chemicals, and equipment used to manufacture the illicit substance. Further, local authorities learned that Long and his cohorts were distributing what they had manufactured to others for monetary profit.

United States Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the North Texas Drug Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gary Tromblay.

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