United States Attorney Sheldon J. Sperling announced Thursday that 7 have been arrested upon an indictment returned this week by the Federal Grand Jury sitting in Muskogee.
25-year-old Shaun Terrill Johnson of Tahlequah, 26-year-old Shannon Malcolm Johnson of Tahlequah, 51-year-old Lawrence Eugene Blue, aka "Stinky", of Tahlequah, 66-year-old John Henry Johnson, aka "Spider" of Tahlequah, 36-year-old Dave Ellis Wilson, aka “Jughead”, of Keys, 28-year-old Orlando L. Wilson, aka "Lando", of Fort Gibson and 38-year-old Jamie Lynn Mask, aka James Lynn Mask, of Hulbert were all arrested.
Sperling says each of the defendants was indicted in a two count indictment charging them with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and Distribution of Controlled Substances and Drug Forfeiture. The Indictment alleges that Beginning in approximately 2001, and continuing through November 17, 2009, the defendants agreed to violate the federal narcotics laws by possessing with intent to distribute and distributing controlled substances including marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and crack cocaine.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Tahlequah Police Department, the Muskogee Police Department, the District 27 District Attorney’s Drug Task Force, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma Air National Guard, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshal Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The investigation centered upon a particular neighborhood in Tahlequah known locally as “the hill”, or “depot hill”. Federal agents, assisted by State and Local police investigators, conducted law enforcement operations on the hill for several months. During the course of the operation, agents purchased approximately 90 grams of methamphetamine, approximately 7 grams of crack cocaine, approximately 6 grams of cocaine, and approximately 160 grams of marijuana.
“The Indictment alleges that the conspiracy which assertedly involved nearly 5 kilos of meth, ¾ kilo of crack and 7 pounds of marijuana,” U.S. Attorney Sperling noted. “The forfeiture count in the indictment seeks a money judgment of $655,000 or the value of drugs transacted and forfeiture of the residences which were the subject of search under court order this morning.”
