Two women sentenced to prison for Hampton Roads drug conspiracy

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Two women were sentenced to prison for their roles in a vast Hampton Roads-based drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, federal law enforcement opened an investigation into large-scale drug trafficking activity at Lux Auto in Newport News around June 2021. The conspirators used the business as a base of operations, storing illegal drugs in vehicles throughout the parking lot of Lux Auto. Thirty-seven defendants were charged in a 127-count superseding indictment returned on Sept. 11, 2023.

Amanda Bell, 24, was a courier and a distributer of drugs and narcotics for the organization, selling marijuana and fentanyl pills. Over the multiple controlled transactions conducted by law enforcement, Bell sold more than 40 grams of fentanyl. Bell also served as a money courier for the organization, travelling between Virginia and California with large quantities of money related to drug trafficking. On March 3, 2022, Bell and a companion were intercepted in route to California with a suitcase containing more than $35,000 intended as part of the organization’s marijuana trafficking activities.

Bell pled guilty on April 26 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. Bell was sentenced Nov. 25 to five years and 10 months in prison.

Farrah Fair, aka 10K Fay, 26, was a courier for the organization, transporting marijuana in checked suitcases on commercial flights between the supplier in California and her co-conspirators in Virginia. Fair pled guilty on Jan. 14 to use of a communication facility in furtherance of drug trafficking. Fair was sentenced Nov. 25 to two years and six months in prison.

Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Dominique Evans, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric M. Hurt, Alyson C. Yates, and Luke Bresnahan prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs).

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:23-cr-54.