California Man Sentenced To 22.5 Years In Prison For Role As Marijuana Supplier To Drug Trafficking Network

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Milton Earl Adams, 36, of Los Angeles, Calif., was sentenced today to serve 270 months in prison for his role as a supplier of marijuana to a drug trafficking network that operated from coast to coast for more than two years, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by Brock D. Nicholson, Special Agent in Charge of ICE - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Atlanta and the Carolinas and Chief Rodney D. Monroe of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Adams, a/k/a “Turtle,” pleaded guilty in December 2012 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 1,000 or more kilograms of marijuana and to money laundering conspiracy. Upon completion of his prison term, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. ordered Adams to be placed on five years of supervised release.

According to court documents and today’s sentencing proceedings, between 2009 and 2011, Adams was the California-based supplier of marijuana to a drug trafficking network that operated from coast to coast. Court documents indicate that Adams had ties to the “Mexican Mafia” and supplied several tons of marijuana from the Los Angeles area to the Charlotte area and other locations throughout the country. “Couriers” of the drug trafficking ring transported the marijuana using commercial flights, each time delivering $50,000 in cash to California, and returning to Charlotte with approximately 100 pounds of marijuana. An airport employee assisted the couriers in passing the packaged marijuana in baggage through airport security.

In January 2014, Judge Conrad sentenced the Charlotte leader of the drug trafficking ring, Parker Antron Coleman, to serve 60 years in prison for marijuana trafficking, money laundering and firearms offenses. To date, a total of 47 defendants have been sentenced in connection with the investigation, 11 are awaiting sentencing and five are currently fugitives. Also, the United States seized more than $1 million of drug proceeds, 600 pounds of marijuana and 13 firearms related to the case. (See list of defendants and sentences/status below).

This investigation, code-named “Operation Goldilocks,” was led by the Western District’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Tompkins commended the work of Homeland Security Investigations and CMPD, which are members of the task force. Ms. Tompkins also acknowledged the Gastonia Police Department, the Concord Police Department, the Mooresville Police Department, the Pineville Police Department, the Huntersville Police Department, the Kannapolis Police Department, the Cornelius Police Department, the Waxhaw Police Department, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, and the Culver City, Cal. Police Department for their assistance with the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

The defendants stemming from this investigation are:

3:10-cr-238, U.S. v. Coleman et al:

1. Parker Coleman – 720 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release (SR). 2. Stephanie Peppers – 54 months in prison and 4 years SR. 3. Shaunda Shenal McAdoo – 36 months in prison and 3 years SR. 4. Ryann Chancler Lewis – 87 months in prison and 5 years SR. 5. Samantha Jo Schmidlin – 27 months in prison and 3 years SR. 6. Nolan Robertson – 41 months in prison and 4 years SR. 7. Leah Patience Davis – 24 months of probation. 8. Leon Edgar Robertson – 84 months in prison and 4 years SR. 9. Mark Eric Dorsey, II – 96 months in prison and 5 years SR. 10. Wendell Jerrod Robinson – 72 months in prison and 4 years SR. 11. Davon Clifton Harris – 60 months in prison and 3 years SR. 12. Christopher Seaton McKneely – 37 months in prison and 4 years SR. 13. Gerren Ezekiel Darty – 188 months in prison and 5 years SR. 14. Glenn O’Neil Carrera – 87 months in prison and 3 years SR. 15. William Pierce – 36 months in prison and 3 years SR. 16. Rico Lamont Grier – 36 months in prison and 3 years SR. 17. Harold Manigault – 30 months in prison and 3 years SR. 18. Mark Rene Hunt – 46 months in prison and 4 years SR. 19. Jason Lee Banks – 78 months in prison and 3 years SR. 20. Megan Amelia Baehr – 41 months in prison and 4 years SR.

3:10-cr-245, U.S. v. Crockett et al:

1. Ahmed Daniel Crockett – 235 months in prison and 5 years SR. 2. Goldie Frances Crockett – 60 months in prison and 3 years SR. 3. Sharon Kelsey-Brown – 60 months in prison and 3 years SR. 4. Robert Jonathan Brown – 58 months in prison and 5 years SR. 5. Shondu Lamar Lynch – 96 months in prison and 4 years SR.

3:11-cr-18, U.S. v. Romero Lamont Massey – 60 months in prison and 4 years SR.

3:11-cr-46, U.S. v. Lasonya White – 24 months of probation.

3:11-cr-85, U.S. v. Thomas Diggs, III – 12 months and 1 day in prison and 2 years SR.

3:11-cr-209, U.S. v. Jerry Davis – 48 months in prison and 3 years SR.

3:11-cr-256, U.S. v. Saulsberry et al:

1. Kamia Arekai Saulsberry – 36 months of probation. 2. Kisha Dorsey – 44 months in prison and 4 years SR. 3. Robert Earl Dorsey, Jr. – 48 months in prison and 3 years SR. 4. Ashley Rae Williams – 6 months in prison and 3 years SR. 5. Tonisha Deshon Williams – 70 months in prison and 4 years SR. 6. Vincent Talbot – 72 months in prison and 4 years SR. 7. Kevin Lamont Stanfield, Jr. – 42 months in prison and 4 years SR. 8. Danny Hance – 37 months in prison and 3 years SR.

3:11-cr-287, U.S. v. Thomas Lavon Smith, Jr. – 168 months in prison and 5 years SR.

3:11-cr-337, U.S. v. Logie et al:

1. Tavarus Shamaco Logie – 210 months in prison and 5 years SR. 2. Crystal Alethea Easter – 36 months in prison and 4 years SR. 3. Don Levon Marsh – 48 months in prison and 4 years SR. 4. Anthony Silva Alegrete – 54 months in prison and 5 years of SR. 5. Ronald Clemenceau Hargette – 60 months in prison and 4 years SR. 6. Sandra Anita Landers – 27 months in prison and 3 years SR. 7. Natalia Christina Wade – 6 months in prison and 3 years SR. 8. Francine Vanessa Williams – convicted at trial/pending sentencing. 9. Evelyn Chantell LaChapelle – convicted at trial/pending sentencing. 10. Marvin Ray Wilburn – pleaded guilty/pending sentencing. 11. Corvain T. Cooper – convicted at trial/pending sentencing. 12. Leamon Keishan Moseley – pleaded guilty/pending sentencing. 13. Gregory Wall – pleaded guilty/pending sentencing. 14. Dana Lamont Adams – pleaded guilty/pending sentencing. 15. Lamar Andrew Harris – pleaded guilty/pending sentencing. 16. Clyde Monroe Wilburn – currently a fugitive.

3:13-cr-18, U.S. v. Lopez et al:

1. Enrique Leonardo Lemus – 70 months in prison and 3 years SR. 2. Octavio Lopez – pleded guilty/pending sentencing. 3. Gustavo Campos Garcia – currently a fugitive. 4. Roberto Mendoza – currently a fugitive. 5. Edgar Milian – currently a fugitive. 6. Cristian Deylah West – currently a fugitive.

3:13-cr-40, U.S. v. Andrew Scott Lowery – pleaded guilty/pending sentencing.

3:13-cr-132, U.S. v. Darrick Leon Johnson – pleaded guilty/pending sentencing.