Jury Convicts KC Woman Of Cocaine Conspiracy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., woman was convicted in federal court today of her role in a conspiracy that was responsible for distributing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine in Jackson County, Mo.

Tamiko Grandison, 41, of Kansas City, was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Jackson County between Jan. 1, 2004, and June 17, 2010. She was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was announced.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Grandison was the conduit who made deliveries of cocaine to customers in the Kansas City area on behalf of her then-boyfriend, Jiles Johnson, formerly of Kansas City, Mo. Johnson, who testified at Grandison’s trial, is being prosecuted in a separate case in the Northern District of Georgia. The government alleges that tons of cocaine was smuggled across the Mexican border and distributed throughout the United States to Johnson and others.

Johnson brought cocaine to Kansas City in 30- and 50-gallon drums and broke it down into kilogram quantities in Grandison’s basement. Grandison stored multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine at her residence until it was delivered.

Grandison delivered hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to co-conspirators over the course of the conspiracy. She also picked up the money from these customers for Johnson, and helped him conceal the drug-trafficking conspiracy by laundering some of the proceeds.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for about two hours before returning the guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge DeanWhipple, ending a trial that began Monday, Aug. 19, 2013.

Under federal statutes, Grandison is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $4 million. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Ambrose, Jr. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.