Brothers each sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for running multi-state cocaine ring

DAYTON, Ohio – Two brothers were sentenced in federal court here today for leading a long-running drug-trafficking organization that sourced bulk amounts of narcotics from Los Angeles and Houston to Dayton and Charlotte, North Carolina.

The government argued at sentencing that Roger Earl Walton, Jr., 44, of Concord, North Carolina, and Shawn Lee Walton, 50, of Charlotte, North Carolina, were sophisticated drug distributors, who, from 2014 until 2020, led a lucrative conspiracy to traffic kilogram quantities of cocaine.

Roger Earl Walton, Jr., also known as “Mike,” was sentenced to 168 months in prison. Shawn Lee Walton, also known as “Swoop,” was sentenced to 151 months in prison.

“Drug trafficking, by its very nature, is devastating to communities,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “Thanks to the work of our law enforcement partners across multiple jurisdictions, the Waltons can no longer harm our cities.”

According to court documents, the Waltons and four other defendants conspired to traffic at least 3,000 kilograms of converted drug weight. The six defendants were charged by indictment in August 2020. As part of this case, law enforcement has seized more 25 kilograms of cocaine and more than one million in cash from the drug-trafficking organization.

Over the course of the narcotics conspiracy, law enforcement in various jurisdictions conducted multiple stops, searches and seizures of the Walton drug-trafficking organization. They include at least half a dozen law enforcement interactions in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Ohio. 

The coconspirators convicted and sentenced as part of this case include:

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal announced the sentences imposed today by U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Newman.

U.S. Attorney Parker recognized the critical assistance of the Oklahoma COMIT Task Force, the Charlotte Mecklenburg, North Carolina, and Beaumont, Texas, police departments, the Cabarrus County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office and the DEA in Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, and gangs that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Assistant United States Attorneys Amy Smith and Rob Painter and Trial Attorney Elizabeth R. Rabe, now with the Department of Justice’s Money Laundering Asset Recovery Section, represented the United States in this case.

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