The Department of Justice led a four-year federal narcotics trafficking investigation that resulted in the arrest of 40 people in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, California, Texas, and Mexico.
Many of those arrested are from Lauderdale, Newton, Neshoba, Scott, and Jasper counties.
The Southern District of Mississippi filed ten indictments.
The charges include multiple drug trafficking offenses, including possession with intent to distribute banned narcotics and conspiracy to do so.
Many defendants face mandatory minimum sentences due to the large quantities of illegal substances involved, as well as additional punishments for crimes involving methamphetamine in the presence of kids or drug trafficking near schools. Some defendants have also been charged with firearms-related crimes or using a phone to threaten the damage or death of someone with an explosive device.
“I have a simple message for the drug dealers in East Mississippi who remain on the streets following today’s arrests. “Get out of the business, or like the people arrested today, you will spend the vast majority of your life in prison,” said U.S. Attorney Todd Gee.
Law enforcement agencies were eager to get to work to keep the community safe, and partnering with the Department of Justice facilitated the process by allowing each entity to work together to remove these individuals from the streets.
“We feel pain on a local level. It’s the people who come into our office and talk about their children who are using illegal narcotics. It’s the shootings. Much of our community’s crime is driven by the illegal selling of firearms and narcotics, and we’ve taken a chunk out of that today. Not all of it, but we’ve taken a bite out of it, and it was accomplished as a result of cooperation among all of these agencies, as discussed today,” said Lauderdale County Sheriff Ward Calhoun.
“I often talk about how public safety works best when politics are kept out of it, and this is a good illustration of that. When you take politics out of public safety, you can collaborate with federal, local, and various administrations. Different elected officials come and go, but these operations continue, and they are carried out by men and women. Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Sean Tindell stated that MBN and other local law enforcement agencies are on the front lines in keeping these initiatives moving ahead.”
Below is a complete list of those that were arrested:
Tavia Armstrong, 32, of Meridian; Alyssia Boose, 32, of Newton; Billy Boose, 46, of Newton; Fred Campbell, 49, of Meridian; Jacoby Clayton, 29, of Meridian; Mario Cole, 37, of Meridian; Bobby Coleman, 35, of Union; George Collier, 46, of Pelahatchie; Christopher Evans, 47, of Union; Tabbgrinn Graham, 33, of Decatur; James Green, 52, of Meridian; Cassady Harris, 37, of Union; Yvette Herring, 45, of Riverside, CA; Dakota Holt, 32, of Meridian; Edward House, 46, of Meridian; Jeffery Jennings, 40, of Meridian; James Johnson, 50, of Louin; Cedric Jones, 52, of Houston, TX; Lajason Jones, 43, of Decatur; Markee Jones, 44, of Meridian; Nathan Kendricks, 46, of Meridian; Kevin King, 41, of Meridian; Todrian Laphand, 30, of Meridian; John Little, 31, of Meridian; Nicholas Massey, 35, of Decatur; Kenneth McCurdy, 43, of Forest; Jeffery Murrell, 54, of Newton; Johnny Patton, 42, of Quitman; Darius Powell, 35, of Meridian; Marcus Powell, 38, of Meridian; Raykeitdgrith Ricks, 41, of Lawrence; Znthony Ruffin, 38, of Toomsuba; Dustin Jamal Russell, 33, of Newton; Steven Savell, 48, of Union; Carlos Seals, 42, of Meridian; Brandon Slaughter, 31, Meridian; Jacorie Smith, 27, of Meridian; Curtis Spivey, 39 of Philadelphia; Billy Wilson, 52, of Cuba, AL; and Crisseta Woods, 46, of Union.
Additional defendants named in the indictments have yet to be arrested.
The trial is slated to begin on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judges F. Keith Ball and LaKeysha Greer Isaac in U.S. District Court in Jackson.