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Press Release

Louisville Residents Charged In Conspiracy To Distribute More Than One Kilogram Of Heroin In A Drug Trafficking Operation

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville residents charged in a conspiracy to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin were arraigned in U.S. District Court today, before Magistrate James D. Moyer, announced United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, David J. Hale.

According to the single count indictment and a criminal complaint, beginning in December of 2012 and continuing to October 21, 2014 the defendants conspired to traffic heroin from multiple residential homes located in Pleasure Ridge Park, Okolona, Parkland and Chickasaw neighborhoods, with a stash house located in Smoketown, where the heroin was packaged for sale as part of this drug trafficking operation.

The criminal complaint further alleges that at least one of the defendants utilized a rental car company in Clarksville, Indiana, to travel to destinations outside the Louisville area including Chicago, Illinois, to procure multiple ounce quantities of heroin for distribution in the Louisville area. On August 2, 2014, video surveillance recorded one defendant place a large black bag in the trunk of a rental vehicle. Later that day, the vehicle was stopped, by Indiana State Police, due to an alleged traffic violation on I-65 in Columbus, Indiana between Louisville and Chicago. Due to the presence and odor of marijuana, police searched the vehicle and located $40,000 in U.S. currency in a black bag located in the vehicle’s trunk. It’s alleged in the criminal complaint that the money was intended for a purchase of heroin from a source located in Chicago.

The eight defendants charged in the single count indictment are Charles Marlo Coleman, Ronald Coleman, Joseph Clinton Coleman, Latonya Gentry, Benjamin Montez Brame, Donnell Parker, Joshua P. Hill, Reginald Grider. All defendants are Louisville residents and all are currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

If convicted at trial, the defendants face no less than 10 years in prison a 1,000,000 fine and a 5 year period of supervised release. The sentence includes up to life in prison with notice of prior felony drug convictions and could include a fine of up to $20,000,000.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Scott Davis and is being investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The indictment of a person by a Grand Jury is an accusation
only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless
proven guilty.

Updated December 15, 2014