News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 21, 2010
Contact: DEA Public Affairs
(202) 307-7977

Drug Dealers Who Attempted to Trade Machine Gun and
Assault Weapons for Drugs Sentenced in Federal Court


Defendants Each Sentenced to Over 35 Years in Prison

DEC 21 --ATLANTA, GA - MARK ANTHONY BECKFORD, 43, and RANDY VANA HAILE, JR., 29, both of Atlanta, Georgia, were sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr. on federal drug and firearms charges for attempting to provide who they thought were Mexican cartel traffickers with assault weapons, including a machine gun, in exchange for kilograms of cocaine and marijuana.

Rodney G. Benson, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Atlanta Field Division said, “Drug dealing breeds violence because dangerous criminals take extreme measures to protect their ill-gotten gains, as was the case in this investigation. DEA and the entire law enforcement community are committed to making our society safer by removing such criminals from the streets. This verdict and ensuing sentence was possible because of the concerted investigative efforts of our federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts.â€