Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced that three individuals were sentenced for their roles in a scheme that sought to distribute approximately three gallons of phencyclidine (PCP) and methamphetamine obtained through the U.S. mail.
Erwin D. Owens, age 39, of Compton, California, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, and Nathan Stewart, age 40, of North Olmsted, Ohio, was sentenced to six years in prison on April 25, 2022. Dawuan L. Williams, age 47, of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was previously sentenced to seven years in prison on January 3, 2022.
According to court documents, in May 2020, investigators with the United States Postal Inspection Service identified three mail parcels suspected of containing drugs. After obtaining search warrants for the parcels, postal inspectors found that each parcel contained approximately one gallon of PCP concealed in acetone containers. Investigators identified Williams as the intended recipient of the three parcels in Ohio, and Owens as the person who mailed them from California.
Between February and March 2021, postal inspectors seized two more parcels that had been sent from California to addresses in Ohio. Each of those two parcels was found to contain approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine. Postal inspectors eventually identified Stewart as the intended recipient of those two drug parcels in Ohio and Owens as the person who sent them from California.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James P. Lewis and Vasile C. Katsaros.