United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BEAUMONT, Texas - A 45-year-old Houston man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy today.

Christopher Wade Ferrell pleaded guilty on May 18, 2017, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 327 months in federal prison on Dec. 15, 2017, by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

According to information presented in court, on Mar. 11, 2016, deputies with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department received information that a large shipment of methamphetamine was to arrive in the Beaumont, Texas, area for further distribution.  Law enforcement officers followed the suspects when the driver began driving erratically.  A traffic stop was attempted at which time the driver of the vehicle, Ferrell, pulled into a parking lot then fled the scene in his vehicle when the officers approached the vehicle.  Ferrell continued to evade officers and committed numerous traffic violations while doing so until he crashed into a privacy fence.  Ferrell then fled on foot and was apprehended several homes away. The passengers remained in the vehicle as officers approached; they detected the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle.  Officers searched the vehicle and located approximately one ounce of marijuana and assorted pills in a passenger’s purse, approximately 10 grams of suspected methamphetamine in a woman’s jacket pocket and approximately 11 other ounces of suspected methamphetamine inside a white plastic grocery bag in the rear seat area.  Officers further located $10,500 in cash and assorted drug paraphernalia inside a backpack in the vehicle.  Ferrell admitted to transporting one kilogram of methamphetamine to Beaumont earlier that same day and admitted that the money found in the backpack was from the sale of the methamphetamine. 

This case is the result of an extensive joint investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF).  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.  Ferrell was indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 2, 2016, and charged with drug trafficking violations.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle S. Englade.