Two Drug Traffickers Sentenced In Operation "no Quarter"

RALEIGH and new bern – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that today in federal court, Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced CHRISTINA MONIQUE CAPERS , 30, of Bellflower, California, to 84 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.  Mr. Walker also announced that today in federal court, United States District Judge Louise W. Flanagan sentenced DEVON MARQUE THOMAS, 26, of Greenville, North Carolina, to 132 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release.

CAPERS was named in an Indictment filed on July 10, 2012, charging her with conspiracy to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.  On October 29, 2012, CAPERS pled guilty to the conspiracy charge. 

On June 22, 2012, investigators arrested CAPERS in Greenville, North Carolina, after investigators located 4.151 kilograms of methamphetamine in the door panels of the car she was driving.  The investigation revealed that CAPERS transported the methamphetamine from Los Angeles, California, to Greenville.  The co-defendants in the case were sentenced by Chief Judge Dever on June 10, 2013.  ISMAEL PARRILL, 32, of Long Beach, California received a 180-month sentence, LUIS GUTIERREZ PARRILLA, 46, of Houston, Texas, received a 162-month sentence, and HUMBERTO GARCIA, 26, of San Pedro, California, received a 100-month sentence.

THOMAS was named in an Indictment filed on April 10, 2012, charging him with conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms of more of cocaine and a quantity of heroin, as well as related distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin counts.

Between August 2010 and March 29, 2012, the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit used informants to make 5 controlled purchases of cocaine and heroin from THOMAS.  THOMAS was arrested twice in March and April of 2011 after being found in possession of cocaine during traffic stops.  The investigation revealed that from 2008 until March 2012 THOMAS was responsible for distributing over 33 kilograms of cocaine, 28 grams of crack cocaine, almost 1 kilogram of marijuana and 3 grams of heroin.

The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation "No Quarter" was designed to attack the infrastructure of the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTO), including those of the Los Zetas, La Familia, Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels, operating not only in the Eastern District of North Carolina, but throughout North Carolina, the United States and Mexico.  These DTO's are responsible for the importation of large quantities of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine into the United States, as well as the related remittance of illegal drug proceeds back into Mexico. 

The investigation spanned ten years and five North Carolina counties. As part of the investigation, over 100 individuals have been charged by indictment or criminal information in the Eastern District of North Carolina and state courts. Law enforcement officials seized drugs with a street value of $4.6 million, including  127 kilograms of cocaine, 53 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 160 pounds of marijuana, and 32 grams of heroin.  Additionally, $2.2 million in U.S. Currency, 35 firearms and 35 real properties valued at $1.5 million were seized by law enforcement authorities.

The investigations of cases in Operation “No Quarter” were conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - Raleigh and Greensboro Resident Offices, the New York Field Division and numerous other DEA offices in the United States and Mexico;  the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) - Raleigh and Wilmington offices; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) - Raleigh and Tampa, Florida offices; the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation; the North Carolina National Guard; the North Carolina State Highway Patrol; the Greenville Police Department; the Pitt County Sheriff's Office; the Pamlico County Sheriff's Office; the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office; the Craven County Sheriff's Office; the Carteret County Sheriff's Office; the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office; the New Bern Police Department, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office; the Person County Sheriff's Office; the Farmville Police Department; the Goldsboro Police Department; the Rocky Mount Police Department; the Burlington Police Department, the Alamance County Sheriff's Office, and the Wilson Police Department.

The federal prosecutions were handled by Special Assistant United States Attorneys Glenn Perry and Augustus Willis, IV.  Mr. Perry is a prosecutor with the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office.  Mr. Willis is a prosecutor with the Carteret, Craven and Pamlico Counties District Attorney’s Office.  District Attorneys Kimberly Robb and Scott Thomas have assigned Mr. Perry and Mr. Willis to the United States Attorney’s Office to prosecute federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force criminal matters. Their assignments to the United States Attorney’s Office have been made possible by grants funded by the Governor’s Crime Commission.