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Dozens in custody following Madison-Morgan County cocaine investigation

Authorities still looking for two people

Published 09/16 2015 03:48PM
Updated 09/16 2015 10:07PM

MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WZDX)

Dozens of people have been arrested as part of a long-running conspiracy to distribute cocaine in North Alabama.
Peggy Sanford with the U.S. Department of Justice said 26 people were arrested Wednesday. Four people already were in custody, and another defendant, Xavier Joyner, turned himself in after the news conference.

This brings the total now in custody to 31 of 33.

Most of the defendants live in the Huntsville-Decatur area and are charged with conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine from January 2013 to March 2015 in Morgan and Madison counties.

The 33-count indictment also includes 26 counts of using a telephone to facilitate the drug conspiracy. All 26 telephone counts cite Marcus Mondez Lampkin, 42, of Decatur, in individual calls with 26 of the other defendants.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement earlier seized $468,250 cash, more than 38 kilograms of cocaine and three firearms. In the course of the arrests, four more handguns and one rifle were seized.

Indicted in the conspiracy along with Marcus Lampkin are: Michael Gregory Smith, 31, Xavier Rashaad Joyner, 32, Jermaine Cunningham, 37, Lamond Fredrick Boykin, 39, Clifford Orr, 63, Emeka Kennge Foster, 38, Andre Lasalle Cater, 43, Brandon Dewayne Fennell, 33, James Earl Mitchell, 21, Roderick Cornelius Cunningham, 33, Valerie Annette Lynch, 27, Marcus Dwayne Trammell, 45, Almon Jarie Lampkin, 33, Frederick Eli Brown Jr., 35, Natasha Marie Lampkin, 35, Latonya Roshelle Elliott, 27, Rashod Martel Lampkin, 23, and Leon Tremayne Teague, 39, all of Decatur.

Also indicted were Anthony Dawson McComb II, 32, Sun Rajon Woods, 21, Quindarrius Untarrio McCants, 26, Daniel Leon Worsley, 30, Darion Deonte McClendon, 27, Demarcus Antwan Toney, 31, David Earl Hardin, 45, Marshall Hughes Jr., 42, and James Cortez Timmons, 26, all of Huntsville.

Other indictments include Harvey Jabor Freeman, 43, of Madison, Thomas Anthony Strong, 22, of Athens, Darik Oneal Sharpley, 36, of Hillsboro, Felita Vaughn, 38, of Florence and Gary Wayne Adams, 46, of Baton Rouge, La.

Authorities say the four Lampkins are related. Marcus Lampkin is Natasha Lampkin's uncle. Almon Lampkin and Rashod Lampkin are brothers, and also cousins of Natasha Lampkin.

In an early morning roundup Wednesday, FBI agents and members of the Madison-Morgan County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, known as STAC, spread out across north Alabama and arrested all but three of the defendants.

Authorities still are seeking Sharpley and Hardin. Another defendant, Xavier Joyner, turned himself in after the press conference Tuesday.

The indictment separates defendants by the amount of cocaine attributable to them in the conspiracy to distribute the illegal drug.

Marcus Lampkin, Smith, McComb, Woods and Adams are charged with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

McCants, Joyner, Jermaine Cunningham, Boykin, Orr, Worsley, McClendon, Foster, Cater, Fennell, Toney, Sharpley, Mitchell and Roderick Cunningham are charged with conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. Defendants Lynch, Hardin, Trammell, Strong, Hughes, Timmons, Almon Lampkin, Brown, Natasha Lampkin, Elliott, Freeman, Rashod Lampkin, Vaughn and Teague are charged with conspiracy to distribute "an amount of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine hydrochloride."

Along with the 26 counts of using a telephone during a drug crime, the indictment also charges Boykin with one count of distributing crack cocaine in Morgan County, charges McCants with one count of possessing with intent to distribute cocaine in Madison County and charges McComb with using a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense in Morgan and Madison counties.

The indictment charges Toney with one count each of possessing with intent to distribute crack cocaine, using a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In a related case indicted in March, four Mexican nationals have pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine in Morgan and Shelby counties between March 2013 and March 2015.

The four men are scheduled for sentencing Sept. 29. They are Eric Guadarama “Migo," Rubi, 25, his brother, Luis David Guadarama Rubi, 19, Jorge Gante, 36, and Carlos Juarez Flores, 24.

Maximum penalties for the crimes charged in the indictment unsealed today are as follows:

- Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine

- Conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, five to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine

- Conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine

- Using a telephone during or to facilitate a drug-trafficking crime, four years in prison and a $250,000 fine

- Distributing crack cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine

- Using a gun in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, a minimum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine

- Possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine, five to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine

- Convicted felon in possession of a firearm, 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI, in conjunction with Huntsville, Decatur and Pelham police departments, Madison and Morgan County sheriff's offices, Madison County District Attorney's Office, federal Drug Enforcement Administration, and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Stuart Burrell and Davis Barlow are prosecuting.

An indictment contains charges. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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