Federal Jury Finds Gainesville Man Guilty Of Conspiring To Distribute More Than Five Kilograms Of Cocaine

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury found Rodane Lamb (26, Gainesville) guilty of conspiring to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 16, 2016.

Lamb was first indicted on November 20, 2015. That indictment was superseded on March 17, 2016.

According to evidence presented at trial, beginning in 2012, Lamb participated in a conspiracy to distribute more than 50 kilograms of cocaine that had been supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel. Lamb and his co-conspirators, each of whom previously pleaded guilty for their role in the conspiracy, used the United States mail to ship boxes containing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to California, which was used to purchase cocaine. The conspirators then used various carriers to ship dozens of kilograms of cocaine back to central Florida, where it was further distributed. The United States Postal Inspection Service confiscated more than $700,000 that had been shipped by the conspirators through the mail.

Testimony further showed that in August 2015, Lamb’s California-based source of cocaine traveled to Florida and directed 50 kilograms of cocaine to be delivered by truck to Ocala, intending that the members of the conspiracy would distribute the cocaine from there. The wholesale value of that cocaine was approximately $1.7 million. The conspirators distributed 10 kilograms of that cocaine. The conspiracy ended on August 5, 2015, when Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested members of the conspiracy and confiscated the remaining 40 kilograms of cocaine, along with approximately $250,000.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Gainesville Alachua County drug task force, the Ocala Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jay Taylor and Laura Cofer Taylor.