34 sentenced as part of ‘Gangster’s Paradise’ investigation

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say 34 people inTennessee have been sentenced to prison terms for laundering money as part of adrug trafficking ring.

U.S. attorney’s office prosecutors in Memphis said in a newsrelease Thursday that the group of defendants sold drugs and laundered moneyfor a drug network that sold heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Officials say the so-called “Gangster’s Paradise”operation began in 2016 and was conducted by the Organized Crime and DrugEnforcement Task Force.

The task force includes members of federal, state and locallaw enforcement agencies. It targets regional and national drug traffickingorganizations.

The 34 men and women were convicted of drug conspiracy andmoney laundering charges. Prison sentences ranged from eight months to morethan 17 years.

(US DEPT. OF JUSTICE NEWS RELEASE) – A total of 34individuals have been sentenced after a two-year investigation known asOperation “Gangster’s Paradise” conducted by the Organized Crime and DrugEnforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”). Members of the drug trafficking organization have been sentenced tofederal prison for drug and money laundering violations.  D. Michael Dunavant, U.S. Attorney for theWestern District of Tennessee announced the sentences today.

According to information presented in court, in 2016, theMemphis Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) beganinvestigating a drug trafficking organization responsible for distributingcocaine, heroin, and marijuana in the Memphis area.  This led to several multi-defendant indictmentsinvolving a variety of narcotics and money laundering charges.  On today’s date, the final defendant wassentenced.  Below is a list of thoseindicted, the charges for which they were convicted, and the sentences imposed:

• Rafael Garza, 47, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on July 31, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr., sentenced Garza to 210 months.
• Timothy Woods, 49, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on July 31, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr., sentenced Woods to 120 months.
• Juan Cisneros, 36, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on April 12, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr., sentenced Cisneros to 121 months; 5 years supervised release.
• Alfredo Arambul, 37, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays sentenced Arambul to 120 months followed by 3 years supervised release.
• Carlos Lopez, 41, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays sentenced Lopez to 46 months and 2 years supervised release.
• Tiffany Harper, 48, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on March 13, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays sentenced Harper to time served, 24 months supervised release.
• Anthony Hope, 49, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on July 17, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays sentenced Hope to 100 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Corey Blair, 48, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on July 19, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays sentenced Blair to 46 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Marcus Joyner, 35, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on July 12, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays sentenced Joyner to 30 months; 2 years supervised release.
• Ricky Dortch, 56, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on May 31, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr., sentenced Dortch to 15 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Johnny Smith, 61, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on November 14, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr., sentenced Smith to 60 months; 4 years supervised release.
• Wanda Amos, 44, conspiracy to commit money laundering, on February 15, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Amos to 24 months supervised release (probation).
• Savino Juarez Cabrales, 46, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin, on June 21, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker sentenced Cabrales to 120 months; 5 years supervised release.
• Marco Antonio Cruz, Jr., 30, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin, on July 18, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker sentenced Cruz to 51 months.
• Jackie Arnold, 49, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, heroin, marijuana and conspiracy to commit money laundering, on July 17, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Arnold to 180 months; 4 years supervised release.
• Travis Bobo, 57, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, on February 25, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Bobo to 120 months; 5 years supervised release.
• Joseph Brown, 43, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on September 6, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Brown to 34 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Timothy Brown, 39, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on April 2, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Brown to 18 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Dedrick Chism, 44, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, on September 12, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Chism to 60 months; 4 years supervised release.
• Foyice Clark, 62, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on July 31, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Clark to 57 months; 5 years supervised release.
• Reginald Duncan, 48, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on May 10, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Duncan to 18 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Theotis Evans, 42, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on May 31, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Evans to 24 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Rico Fason, 33, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, on May 20, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Fason to 90 months; 4 years supervised release.
• Antonio Goss, 43, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, on February 4, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Goss to 120 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Rodney Harper, 43, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on September 7, 2018, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Harper to 33 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Tangela Jackson, 50, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on February 22, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Jackson to 60 months; 4 years supervised release.
• Lakata Johnson, 47, conspiracy to commit money laundering, sentenced on June 12, 2016, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Johnson to 12 months, 1 day; 2 years supervised release.
• Roderick Kelley, 44, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on August 5, 2019,  U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Kelley to 46 months; 4 years supervised release.
• Tawana Rice, 42, conspiracy to commit money laundering, on June 18, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Rice to time served; 2 years supervised release.
• Roy Rodgers, 54, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, on March 12, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Rodgers to 27 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Rodney Taylor, 41, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, on August 21, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced Taylor to 8 months; 3 years supervised release.
• Shunta Thompson-Truehart, 40, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, on January 14, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced to Thompson-Truehart to 24 months; 4 years supervised release.
• Barrett Young, 54, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, on October 17, 2019, U.S. District Judge Mark S. Norris, sentenced Young to 18 months; 3 years supervised release.  
• John Robinson, 45, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine, on October 3, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Mark S. Norris sentenced Robinson to 12 months; 3 years supervised release.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said: “Use andtrafficking of illegal drugs continues to destroy lives, families, andcommunities in Memphis, Shelby County, and across West Tennessee. The jointcooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement in this OCDETFcase demonstrates our ability and resolve to dismantle drug traffickingorganizations, including those that distribute narcotics from locations acrossthe country. These sentences send a clear message to those gangsters, drugdealers, and money launderers who distribute poison in the Western District ofTennessee: You cannot prey upon our citizens for your selfish personal gainwith impunity; For you, there is no paradise – only a reckoning that ends infederal prison.” OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperativeapproach to combat drug trafficking organizations and organized criminalenterprises, targeting national and regional level drug traffickingorganizations, and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities andresources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seizetheir assets.   The Drug EnforcementAdministration, the Memphis Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit, the WestTennessee Drug Task Force, and the United States Postal Inspection Serviceinvestigated these cases. Assistant United States Attorneys Jerry Kitchen andMichelle Kimbril-Parks prosecuted these cases on behalf of the government.