California Meth Distributor Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – David John Russell, 38, of Fallbrook, California, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Russell pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, 2016. According to court documents, a methamphetamine distributor operating in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area traveled to California to obtain large quantities of methamphetamine. Russell met with this methamphetamine distributor and agreed to provide the distributor with methamphetamine. Then, on two separate occasions, Russell used the U.S. Postal Service to send approximately one pound of methamphetamine. Law enforcement successfully seized both packages.

The case was investigated by the DEA and U.S. Postal Service as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), Ring of Ice. The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Karl C. Colder, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division; and Joseph W. Cronin, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, III. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carina A. Cuellar prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-202.