MONTROSE, COLORADO – United States Attorney Jason Dunn announced that Naomi Vaughn, 36, of Montrose, Colorado, was sentenced to more than seven years (87 months) in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Vaughn’s prison sentence will be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.

According to court documents, as well as facts presented at sentencing, Vaughn and her husband/co-defendant Joseph Davis were mid-level dealers of methamphetamine in Montrose, Colorado. They received and distributed multiple pounds of methamphetamine for profit. Vaughn began this criminal activity shortly after her husband was released on parole in 2019, after he served a portion of a ten-year state prison sentence for previous drug distribution.

After Davis was released on parole, the couple distributed methamphetamine from their Montrose residence.

“Montrose is an important community on the western slope,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn. “Drug rings operating in small communities can have a devasting impact on the quality of life. I commend our federal and local law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly with our prosecutors to make a real difference for everyone who lives in Montrose and the surrounding area.”

“This sentencing sends a clear message that those who seek to sell this poison in our community will be caught and dealt with severely,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter. “The DEA and our law enforcement partners across the state are committed to eradicating the illegal sale and distribution of methamphetamine and other hard drugs plaguing our communities.”

United States District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello sentenced Vaughn on January 7, 2021. Davis was previously sentenced to more than 12 years (151 months) for his involvement in the drug conspiracy.

The investigation in this matter was conducted by the DEA, the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office, the Montrose County Police Department, and the Seventh Judicial District Drug Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Phillips is leading the prosecution.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – An Arlington gang member has been convicted at trial of felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

Following around two hours of deliberation, a Fort Worth federal jury returned a guilty verdict against 25-year-old Jeremy Devonte White, aka “Worm,” Thursday afternoon.

According to evidence presented at trial, on November 26, 2019, Mr. White, a known member of the Trill Fam street gang, was riding in the passenger side of a fellow gang member’s vehicle when Arlington police attempted a traffic stop. When the vehicle reached a residential neighborhood, Mr. White jumped out and fled with a backpack, which he then ditched in a resident’s yard.

Inside the backpack were two loaded handguns, including one with a 33-round, high capacity magazine. Mr. White was subsequently identified and apprehended.

Mr. White, who was convicted in 2015 of three incidents of felony evading arrest, now faces up to ten years in federal prison on the firearms charge. Sentencing has been set for April 16.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Arlington Police Department’s Gang and Gun Crimes Units conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Weybrecht and Andrew Briggs tried the case. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor presided over the trial, which incorporated extensive safety protocols, including social distancing of the attorneys, witnesses, and jurors, as well as face masks and face shields.

TULSA, OKLAHOMA – Shane McClearan Wright, 44, of Tulsa, pleaded guilty to all five counts of the indictment before U.S. District Court Judge Claire V. Eagan. Wright’s sentencing is scheduled for April 7, 2021.

“Heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine are quite the trifecta of addiction and death to be trafficking. Shane Wright brought these illicit narcotics to Northern Oklahoma and now he is facing the consequences. I appreciate the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, and local law enforcement for their vigilance to keep dangerous drugs off our streets,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.

This is yet another conviction secured by the diligent efforts of our Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn McCormick. Her vigilance and commitment to enforcing our nation’s drug laws should make traffickers think twice before bringing their illicit business here.”

“Our special agents and dedicated support staff at HSI Tulsa are relentlessly committed to protecting the communities we serve from dangerous drug traffickers and their cohorts,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge of HSI Dallas. “We will continue working with our valued law enforcement partners to bring to justice those involved in the illicit drug trade.”

On September 10, 2020 a Customs and Border Protection Officer x-rayed a FedEx package coming from Mexico and noticed some anomalies. A K-9 unit proceeded to discover that the package contained 1.84 kilos of heroin and was in route to an address in Northern Oklahoma. Officers discovered that the package was intended for Shane Wright and that Wright was known to local law enforcement as a narcotics courier. Prior to the delivery arriving at Wright’s residence, law enforcement replaced the 1.84 kilos with 100 grams of heroin as a represented delivery sample. On September 15, 2020 an officer from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs posed as a FedEx delivery driver and knocked on Wright’s door to have him sign for the package. Once the parcel was received by Wright, law enforcement conducted a search warrant and found $6,975 cash in a lock box, more heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, unknown white pills, and a digital scale at the residence.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn A. McCormick is prosecuting the case.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA – On Wednesday, January 6th, federal agents arrested a woman for her role in a lottery fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr., and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Inspector-In-Charge, Houston Division, Adrian Gonzalez.

A five-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges Gloria Kirk Edmonson, 75, of Houston, Texas, with one count of conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to the indictment, from January 2019 through December 2020, Edmonson was a part of a lottery fraud scheme that persuaded individuals, often vulnerable elderly individuals, to send money and/or valuable property via mail. The individuals were led to believe they had won the lottery and need only pay their taxes or fees to receive their winnings.

Edmonson deposited the money into bank accounts that she controlled. The funds were transferred to other accounts that her co-conspirators had access to via a debit card, which they used to withdraw cash from financial institutions in Jamaica.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years in prison. The maximum penalty for wire fraud, mail fraud, and the money laundering conspiracy is 20 years in prison.

FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen S. Osborne is prosecuting the case.

An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA – U.S. Attorney Wrigley Annouces two Quebec Men Extradited to North Dakota from Canada as part of ‘Operation Denial’
FARGO – The United States Attorney’s Office, North Dakota, announced that Canadian authorities extradited two alleged members of an international fentanyl trafficking organization.

Acting Assistant Attorney General David P. Burns of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Drew H. Wrigley of the District of North Dakota, and U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

Jason Joey Berry, aka Daniel Desnoyers, 37, of Montreal, Quebec, and Xuan Cahn Nguyen, aka Jackie and Jackie Chan, 41, of Point-Aux-Tremble, Quebec, arrived in North Dakota Wednesday, January 6, 2021, and had their initial appearance and arraignment hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice Senechal on January 7, 2021. Their case is assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Peter D. Welte.

Berry was arrested on Oct. 18, 2019, and Nguyen was arrested on Jan. 16, 2020. Both Berry and Nguyen were ordered surrendered by the Canadian Minister of Justice on Nov. 30, 2020. Berry and Nguyen were extradited in connection with a superseding indictment in the District of North Dakota charging them with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues resulting in serious bodily injury and death, and conspiracy to import controlled substances and controlled substance analogues into the United States resulting in serious bodily injury and death. The superseding indictment also charges Nguyen with international money laundering conspiracy.

The extradition comes as part of “Operation Denial,” an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation into the international trafficking of fentanyl and other lethal drugs, and was significantly aided by the national and international coordination led by the multi-agency Special Operations Division near Washington D.C. as part of “Operation Deadly Merchant.” The investigation started in North Dakota on Jan. 3, 2015, with the overdose death in Grand Forks, North Dakota, of 18-year-old Bailey Henke.

Berry and Nguyen’s alleged co-defendant Daniel Vivas Ceron of Columbia was previously extradited from Panama to North Dakota in 2017. Vivas Ceron pled guilty on July 12, 2019, for his role in operating an international fentanyl trafficking organization from a Canadian prison and is awaiting sentencing.

This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Portland Oregon Police Bureau – Drugs and Vice Division, Portland HIDTA Interdiction Task Force, Oregon State Police, and the Grand Forks Police Department. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in bringing Berry and Nguyen to the United States and procuring foreign evidence during the investigation.

Trial Attorney Kaitlin Sahni of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers of the District of North Dakota, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Edmonds of the District of Oregon are prosecuting the cases.

An indictment is merely an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.