St. Petersburg Man Sentenced To More Than 17 Years For His Involvement In Drug Trafficking Organization

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Ceveghnta Billvon Guyden, a/k/a “Chop,” (42, St. Petersburg) to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine. He had pleaded guilty on March 24, 2020.

Guyden was one of eleven individuals charged with federal drug trafficking crimes. According to the indictment, between an unknown date, but no later than August 2018, and continuing through November 26, 2019, the individuals conspired to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine.

According to court documents, Guyden and a co-defendant worked in concert to purchase and sell cocaine on multiple occasions. In total, Guyden supplied or brokered approximately 6.5 kilograms of cocaine to a co-defendant.

These cases were investigated by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). 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. Agencies involved in this OCDETF operation include the Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Petersburg Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David C. Waterman.