Georgia Inmate Is Sentenced To Prison For Trafficking Methamphetamine

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell has sentenced Alfonso Roman Brito, 44, to 25 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for trafficking methamphetamine, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office, Ronnie Martinez, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in North Carolina and South Carolina, Robert Schurmeier, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), Sheriff Banks Hinceman of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Donald G. Brown II of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.

According to filed court documents and evidence introduced at trial Brito’s trial, in 2019, law enforcement were conducting an investigation into a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) operating in Catawba and Burke Counties and surrounding communities. As trial evidence established, the investigation determined that Brito, who was an inmate in the Georgia Department of Corrections, was in charge of coordinating the shipment of multiple kilograms of methamphetamine from Atlanta into Western North Carolina. According to information presented at trial, between 2019 and 2021, Brito orchestrated the delivery of more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine from Georgia to North Carolina, which was then sold to drug networks in the area for local distribution.

In December 2022, a federal jury convicted Brito of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine. Six co-defendants have also been sentenced for drug related offenses in connection with this case:

• Charles Ray Hildebran was sentenced to 180 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
• Jeffrey Ben Pavkovich was sentenced to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
• Billy Dean Potter was sentenced to 132 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
• Phillip Anthony Godfrey was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
• Britton Nicole Metcalf was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
• Marcos Alan Martinez was sentenced to 46 months in prison and two years of supervised release.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney King commended the DEA, HSI, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office for leading the investigation. U.S. Attorney King also thanked the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, the Newton Police Department, the Hickory Police Department, and the Georgia Department of Corrections for their assistance in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.