For Immediate Release:
TWENTY-SIX
INDICTED IN EVANSVILLE AREA CRACK COCAINE TRAFFICKING CASE
Two Indictments Unsealed This Morning
Susan W. Brooks,
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced
that a Southern District of Indiana federal grand jury indicted 26 individuals
for trafficking powder and crack cocaine in the Evansville area. Two indictments
were unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Evansville. Approximately
150 law enforcement officers participated in the execution of arrest warrants
and over fourteen search warrants related to the investigation. These
warrants were executed on residences and individuals in Evansville, Indiana,
Henderson, Kentucky, Owensboro, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, and Chicago,
Illinois.
Leading the joint
investigation were the FBI-Evansville Safe Streets Task Force and DEA-Evansville.
FBI-Evansville Safe Streets Task Force was created in 2006 to combat violent
crime in the Evansville area. The Task Force consists of FBI agents working
with Evansville Police Department detectives to investigate federal crimes
in Evansville. In early 2007, FBI Safe Streets received information from
multiple sources that a group of individuals, some with violent criminal
histories and ties to street gangs, were distributing large amounts of
crack cocaine in Evansville. In Spring 2007, FBI Safe Streets and DEA-Evansville
launched "Operation Tombstone" to target and dismantle the drug
trafficking organization. Today's indictments and arrests are the culmination
of that eight month investigation. U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks commended
the work of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the DEA Task Force in
this investigation, "when the community raised its concerns about
drugs and violence, I'm proud that federal law enforcement stepped in
to make the streets and neighborhoods of Evansville safer."
Assisting in the
investigation were the United States Marshals Service, the Evansville
Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, the Evansville Police Department,
the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Department, and the Indiana State Police.
In addition to these agencies, DEA-Louisville, DEA-Indianapolis, FBI-Indianapolis,
and the Warrick County Sheriff's Department, assisted in the execution
of search and arrest warrants.
The joint investigation
lasted for eight months and included the confiscation of approximately
$130,000 worth of cocaine and cocaine base. All told, law enforcement
seized and purchased close to nine hundred (900) grams of "crack"
cocaine and approximately one-half kilogram of powder cocaine from members
of the conspiracies. The fourteen search warrants executed today yielded
United States currency; multiple firearms, to include an assault pistol;
and various amounts of controlled substances, including crack cocaine.
The investigation
revealed two distinct cocaine and cocaine base trafficking organizations.
The indictments charge twenty-six individuals as follows:
The first indictment
is regarding the drug trafficking organization lead by Jeremy Simmons
and charges eight individuals with conspiracy to distribute and possess
with intent to distribute five hundred (500) grams or more of cocaine
and fifty (50) grams or more or cocaine base (a.k.a. "crack")
cocaine. The individuals charged in this indictment are as follows:
- JEREMY SIMMONS
(a.k.a. "Chicago Mike"), 31, currently of Henderson, Kentucky
(formally from Chicago, IL)
- MAURICE MABRON
(a.k.a. "Stanley Pike," "Reece"), 29, of Evansville
- BRIAN JONES (a.k.a.
"Big B"), 30, of Evansville
- LEONARD HOSKINS,
(a.k.a. "Pooh"), 28, of Evansville
- SAM COOK, 36,
of Evansville
- LAMONT ROBINSON,
30, of Evansville
- MITCHELL MCGHEE,
29, of Evansville
- TANISHA WEST,
27, of Evansville
The second indictment
is regarding the drug trafficking organization lead by David Neighbors
and charges eighteen (18) individuals with conspiracy to distribute and
possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and
fifty (50) grams or more of cocaine base (a.k.a. "crack" cocaine).
The individuals charged in this indictment are as follows:
- THOMAS PERKINS,
29, of Louisville
- DAVID NEIGHBORS
(a.k.a. "Vato"), 25, of Evansville
- LATREANCE TAYLOR
(a.k.a. "Three Ts"), 29, of Evansville
- LAFREDERICK TAYLOR
(a.k.a. "Dookie"), 31, of Evansville
- MAURICE NICHOLSON
(a.k.a. "Putsie"), 24, of Evansville
- JADRION GRIFFIN,
29 (a.k.a. "Teese"), of Evansville (formerly from South Bend)
- KEREEM DAVIDOVIC
(a.k.a. "Red"), 29, of Evansville (formerly of South Bend)
- KAMAL SIMS (a.k.a.
"Mal"), 23, of Evansville
- KESHAUN HORNE
(a.k.a. "Kam"), 24, of Evansville
- DERRICK STANFIELD
(a.k.a. "D"), 31, of Evansville
- ANTONIO MILES
(a.k.a. "Tonio"), 23, of Evansville
- JASON KIRK, 24,
of Evansville
- JAMES BROWN (a.k.a.
"Bonton"), 25, of Owensboro
- TREVOR PERRY,
30, of Evansville
- JEROME STARKS,
33, of Evansville
- CHARLES CLEMENTS,
43, of Evansville
- DIMITRAI CABELL,
25, of Evansville
- JASON HORNE, 28,
of Evansville
The "Jeremy
Simmons" Organization indictment alleges that the defendants were
engaged in conspiring to bring cocaine to Evansville from Chicago, Illinois.
After the cocaine arrived in Evansville, the conspirators distributed
the drug in the Evansville community primarily as "crack" cocaine.
The "David Neighbors" Organization indictment alleges that the
defendants were engaged in conspiring to bring cocaine and cocaine base
to Evansville primarily from Louisville, Kentucky. The conspirators then
distributed the cocaine primarily as "crack" cocaine in the
Evansville community.
According to Assistant
United States Attorney Matthias D. Onderak, who is prosecuting the case
for the government, all twenty-six defendants, if convicted, face possible
prison sentences up to life without parole. The possible sentences for
JEREMY SIMMONS, MAURICE MABRON, BRIAN JONES, LEONARD HOSKINS, SAM COOK,
MITCHELL MCGHEE, THOMAS PERKINS, DAVID NEIGHBORS, KAREEM DAVIDOVIC, JAMES
BROWN, TREVOR PERRY, and DIMITRAI CABELL, are mandatory life imprisonment
without parole. The possible sentences for LATREANCE TAYLOR, LAFREDERICK
TAYLOR, JADRION GRIFFIN, KAMAL SIMS, DERRICK STANFIELD, JASON KIRK, and
JASON HORNE are a mandatory minimum 20 years imprisonment up to life.
The possible sentences for LAMONT ROBINSON, TANISHA WEST, MAURICE NICHOLSON,
KESHAUN HORNE, ANTONIO MILES, JEROME STARKS, and CHARLES CLEMENTS are
a mandatory minimum 10 years imprisonment up to life.
Initial hearings
began this morning for some of the defendants before a U.S. Magistrate
Judge in Evansville.
The indictments
are an allegation only, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty at trial or by guilty plea.
New
Releases
|