Operation "Golden Pony": Five Individuals Indicted For Drug Conspiracy

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that KELLY RAY POTTER JR., age 41, of McAlester, Oklahoma; RACHEL MARIE WHITE, age 38, of El Reno, Oklahoma; HEIDI SANCHEZ, age 31, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; ANTONIA SANCHEZ age 52, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and LASHEA DANNETTE HARRIS age 32, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, were each indicted for DRUG CONSPIRACY, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846, 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B) and 841(b)(1)(C), punishable by not less than 5 years, and not more than 40 years imprisonment (methamphetamine), and up to 20 years imprisonment (heroin), and up to a $5,000,000.00 fine or both.

The Indictment alleged that beginning in or about July 2016 and continuing until on or about November 29, 2016, within the Eastern District of Oklahoma and elsewhere, the defendants, KELLY RAY POTTER JR., RACHEL MARIE WHITE, HEIDI SANCHEZ, ANTONIA SANCHEZ, and LASHEA DANNETTE HARRIS, did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate and agree together, and with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit offenses against the United States in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846, as follows: to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance, and to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin, a Schedule I controlled substance.

The charges arose from a joint investigation entitled “Golden Pony” coordinated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) of the Eastern District of Oklahoma. OCDETF is an initiative led and coordinated by the Office of the United States Attorney. The agencies involved in the investigation were, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Honorable Kimberly E. West, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the arraignment of POTTER on August 22, 2017 and HEIDI SANCHEZ & ANTONIA SANCHEZ on August 21, 2017.

Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Hammer represented the United States.