Twelve people have been charged in a 66-count federal indictment charging them in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in east Alabama.
The indictment was unsealed Tuesday, according to a joint announced by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona, DEA Special Agent in Charge Brad L. Byerley and ATF Special Agent in Charge Mickey French.
Of the 12 suspects, eight were taken into custody Tuesday. Four others were already in custody on state charges.
Those named in the indictment are:
- Antonio Franchester Orr, aka Lil T, aka Tony, 48, of Eastaboga
- Brandon Maurice Butler, aka BB, 34, of Lincoln
- Thomas Terrel Truss, 50, of Oxford
- Seth Michael Owens, 29, of Ragland
- Gerod Montario Stripling, 35, of Eastaboga
- Jakahri Howard aka Joc, 22, of Lincoln
- Steven Weed, 50, of Lincoln
- Melissa Sage Goins, 36, of Guntersville
- Brian Kenneth Goodwin, 44, of Pell City
- Michael Edwin Scales, Sr., 68, of Anniston
- James Christopher Stanley, 46, of Tuscaloosa
- Charles Alan Calhoun, aka Charles Allen Calhoun and Chopper, 57, of Alpine
The group is charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana between June 2021 and June 2022. The indictment also charges all defendants with at least one count of using a telephone to facilitate a drug-trafficking crime.
The DEA, ATF, and other law enforcement agencies have seized a total of over 20 kilograms of methamphetamine and 1 kilogram of cocaine as a part of the investigation.
The indictment includes special findings of the grand jury regarding the amount of methamphetamine attributable to various defendants as part of the drug-trafficking conspiracy.
- Orr, Butler, Truss, Owens, Stripling, Howard, Weed, Goins, Goodwin, Scales, and Stanley are charged with conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
- Calhoun is charged with conspiring to distribute a substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
- Orr is charged with distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
- Howard is charged with possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
- Goodwin is charged with possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
- Orr, Owens, and Stripling are charged with possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
- Orr is charged with attempt to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
- Howard, Butler, and Stripling are charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The minimum prison sentence for this charge is five years in prison, which must be served after completion of any other sentence related to the crime.
Orr, Stripling, and Stanley were already in custody on related state charges. Truss is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Fountain Correctional Facility for first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy.
“The scope of this indictment, including charges for use of firearms and interstate communication facilities to carry out the drug trafficking operation, demonstrates the expertise of our Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force in stopping the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities,” Escalona said.
“In Alabama and all across our nation, DEA and our partners are determined to find drug traffickers, shut down their operations, and bring them to justice,” said DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Towanda Thorne-James. “Today’s arrests are yet another strike against the powerful drug trafficking organizations whose tentacles stretch across the state border into our neighborhoods.”
The DEA and the ATF investigated the case, along with assistance from the Anniston Police Department, Oxford Police Department, 7th Judicial Circuit Major Crimes Unit, Calhoun County District Attorney’s Office, Talladega County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, Pell City Police Department, West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, Blount County Sheriff’s Department, and the Alabama National Guard Joint Counter Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Allison Garnett and Blake Milner are prosecuting the cases.
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