Press Release
Twelve Methamphetamine Traffickers Sentenced To Prison
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina
STATESVILLE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Richard L. Voorhees handed down prison terms ranging from 21 to 120 months to 12 methamphetamine traffickers, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Atlanta and the Carolinas; Daniel R. Salter, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office; and C. J. Hyman, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division
The 12 defendants sentenced today and yesterday in U.S. District Court in Statesville are:
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Chang Cheng Vang, 20, of Hickory, NC, was sentenced to 120 months, followed by 5 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-38)
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Christopher Dwayne Helton, 31, of Connelly Springs, NC, was sentenced to 120 months, followed by 5 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-25)
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Shannon Marie Williams Greene, 37, of Hickory, NC, was sentenced to 105 months, followed by 3 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-49)
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Moises Valdovinos, 33, of Mexico, was sentenced to 97 months, followed by 5 years of supervised release. (5:14-cr-66)
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Adrian Demarcus Perkins, 21, of Montezuma, GA, was sentenced to 97 months, followed by 3 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-53)
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Juan Jesus Santellan, 24, of Hickory, NC, was sentenced to 78 months, followed by 3 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-47)
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Bobby James Testerman, 31, of Jefferson, NC, was sentenced to 60 months, followed by 4 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-42)
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Jamie Martinez-Benitez, 27 of Mexico, was sentenced to 60 months, followed by 4 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-62)
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Travis Layden Bare, 39, of West Jefferson, was sentenced to 60 months, followed by 4 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-52)
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Anthony Ray Mauney, 30, of Maiden, NC, was sentenced to 51 months, followed by 5 years of supervised release. (5:15-cr-40)
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Jose Luis Zavala, 20, of Hickory, NC, was sentenced to 46 months, followed by 3 years of supervised release. (5:14-cr-60)
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Gerardo Espino Albarran, 25, of Mexico, was sentenced to 21 months, followed by 1 year of supervised release. (5:14-cr-66)
The sentencings are the result of two parallel and coordinated Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigations, codenamed “Dixie Crystal” and “Lay Low,” handled by HSI, DEA, and ATF, with the assistance of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Alexander County Sheriff’s Office, Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office, Ashe County Sheriff’s Office, Boone Police Department, Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, Hickory Police Department, Iredell County Sheriff’s Office, Lenoir Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Mooresville Police Department, Pineville Police Department, Statesville Police Department, Burke County Task Force, and other law enforcement agencies throughout North Carolina and Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee.
According to court documents, to date, more than 80 individuals have been convicted as a result of the two related investigations. Court records show that the drug trafficking organizations involved have trafficked methamphetamine worth millions of dollars. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized more than 10 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, $100,000 in U.S. currency and other assets, and numerous firearms.
OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.
In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Rose thanked all the law enforcement agencies for their investigative efforts. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
Updated February 12, 2016
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