Mississippi Man found guilty of multiple drug trafficking crimes

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a jury has found a Mississippi man guilty of two drug trafficking crimes based on his efforts to distribute methamphetamine and crack cocaine in late 2013.

Charlie B. Lewis, III, a/k/a “Little Chuck,” a/k/a “LC,” 28, originally of Grenada, Mississippi, was convicted by the jury of being a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy whose aim was to distribute methamphetamine and crack cocaine in Anchorage.  The jury also convicted Lewis of actually selling methamphetamine on September 25, 2013.  The jury acquitted Lewis on a related firearms count.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie C. Courter and Timothy D. Edmonds, who prosecuted the case, the evidence at trial showed that Lewis relocated to Anchorage several years ago and began dealing illegal drugs shortly thereafter.  Specifically, between September and December 2013, Lewis worked with several different people in order to sell methamphetamine and crack cocaine.

On September 25, 2013, Lewis and his co-defendant, Michael Ewing, sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).  Audio recordings played at trial captured Lewis arranging the deal, quoting the prices for the methamphetamine, and, ultimately, taking $800 in cash from the informant.

Lewis later sold crack cocaine as part of a separate undercover operation conducted by the Anchorage Police Department (APD).  Text messages shown at trial documented Lewis arranging the deal.  During the execution of a search warrant at Lewis’ residence following the deal, APD officers also recovered all of the indicia of drug trafficking activity – cocaine, crack cocaine, scales, baggies, cash, multiple cell phones, and a loaded 9mm handgun.   Officers found the money used to purchase the crack cocaine in Lewis’s pants pocket.

U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline presided over the trial.  Judge Beistline scheduled Lewis’s sentencing for 9:00 a.m. on June 27, 2016.  Lewis faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years on the counts of conviction and a statutory maximum sentence of up to 40 years.  Lewis’s co-defendant, Michael Ewing, previously pled guilty in the case and is set to be sentenced on April 6, 2016.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Loeffler praised the work of the ATF, APD, and Homeland Security Investigations, whose investigative efforts led to Lewis’s conviction.