News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2010
Contact: Chuvalo J. Truesdell
PIO/AFD
Number: 404-893-7124
Atlanta Man Sentenced to 262 Months Imprisonment as Part of Major Drug Investigation
JAN 15 -- SAVANNAH, GA - Edward J. Tarver, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia and Rodney G. Benson, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA Atlanta Field Division (AFD), announced today that a Savannah man was sentenced on January 11, 2010 to a 96 month term of imprisonment following his conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine, s part of a recently completed drug investigation in Savannah. Telly Savalas Petty, age 35, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge William T. Moore, Jr. following his guilty plea to the conspiracy charge on April 13, 2009. Tarver further stated that Petty will be required to serve 5 years of supervised release following completion of his prison sentence.
The case was federally prosecuted as part of the district’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) initiative which targets the most significant drug trafficking organizations in the Southern District of Georgia. Petty was one of forty-five defendants indicted in November 2008 in the case of United States v. Jamerson Vashon Smalls, et al. Forty-two of the defendants have now been sentenced by the District Court.
The conspiracy was headed by Jamerson Vashon Smalls of Atlanta, Georgia. Smalls was
the main supplier for three distinct drug organizations in Savannah. The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that these organizations were responsible for the distribution of at least 200 kilograms of cocaine between September 2006 and August 2008 in the Savannah area. The investigation also targeted Javier Valdivia, a supplier of cocaine to Jamerson Smalls, and Marcus Shantay Banks, an alternate Atlanta-based source of supply for Telly Petty.
The indictment followed a joint investigation by the United States Drug Enforcement
Administration, the Chatham-Savannah Counter-Narcotics Team, the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department, the United States Marshal’s Service, the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department, and the Georgia State Patrol, under the auspices of the OCDETF. The investigation showcased numerous investigative techniques, to include controlled drug purchases, physical surveillance, mobile tracking devices, and the use of confidential informants and cooperating defendants. A number of search warrants were executed and traffic stops were conducted based on information developed during the investigation.
DEA Atlanta’s SAC Benson commented, “We have removed a dangerous criminal from the streets. This multi-kilogram cocaine distributor will no longer be able to deliver deadly doses of poison to communities in the Savannah area. This sentence is appropriate for the crimes that he committed. This investigation was a success because of the great working relationship that DEA has with its federal, state and local counterparts.”
Mr. Tarver stated, “The OCDETF program is specifically designed to encourage federal, state and local agency cooperation which is essential for the dismantling of large-scale drug organizations. I commend the agents, officers and prosecutors who made this prosecution successful.” The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karl Knoche and Brian Rafferty.
In addition to Telly Petty, the following defendants were sentenced by the District Court
for the offenses and on the dates indicated:
JAMERSON VASHON SMALLS - Atlanta, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 262 months imprisonment - December 7, 2009
MARCUS SHANTAY BANKS - Atlanta, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 126 months imprisonment - December 7, 2009
CHARLES GREGORY COLLINS - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 157 months imprisonment - December 7, 2009
TYRONE SAMUEL FIELDS - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 135 months imprisonment - December 7, 2009
JERNARD AKINS - Savannah, Georgia
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility (two counts) - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 87 months
imprisonment - June 17, 2009
JOHN LEE ANDERSON - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 125 months imprisonment - June 17, 2009
LESTER LEONARD BROWN - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 84 months imprisonment - December 9, 2009
ORLANDO SHERNARD CLARK - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 60 months imprisonment - December 9, 2009
MICHAEL ANTHONY DAVIS - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 140 months imprisonment - December 9, 2009
PERCELL ELLISON, JR. - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 76 months imprisonment - December 11, 2009
CRAIG HERMAN GOODWIN - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 163 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
DEMETRIUS GREEN - Estill, South Carolina
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 194 months imprisonment - December 16, 2009
TRAVIAN SHONATE GREEN - Varnville, South Carolina
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 80 months imprisonment - December 9, 2009
ANDERSON HOLMES, III - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 70 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
HENRY JAMES, JR. - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 87 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
RASHAUD JOHNSON - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 142 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
THOMAS CARL JOHNSON - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 70 months imprisonment - June 17, 2009
BERNARD MARQUESE MILTON - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 151 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
MARLON LEGRANT SAUSSY - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 120 months imprisonment - December 7, 2009
SHAKEEM RENEE SINGLETON - Estill, South Carolina
Interstate Travel in Aid of Racketeering Enterprise - 18 U.S.C. § 1952 - 36 months
imprisonment - July 10, 2009
MARION LUCHES SLAY - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 121 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
ARTIE WAYNE STRAWDER - Savannah, Georgia
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 160 months imprisonment - December 9, 2009
ANTHONY LEE BUTLER - Savannah, Georgia
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility (two counts) - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 92 months
imprisonment - December 16, 2009
KARRIEM YUSEF BUTLER
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility (two counts) - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 92 months
imprisonment - December 16, 2009
MARVIN WILLIE COURSON, III
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 94 months imprisonment - December 11, 2009
KEITH L. FUTCH
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 44 months imprisonment
- December 16, 2009
STACEY TREMAINE GOLDEN
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 102 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
TYRONE VINCENT GLOVER
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 135 months imprisonment - December 11, 2009
ALPHONSO IRVING
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility (two counts) - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 46 months
imprisonment - June 19, 2009
MARLON RAY JOHNSON
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 151 months imprisonment - May 13, 2009
EMMANUEL JONES
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility (two counts) - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 78 months
imprisonment - December 9, 2009
JOHN JONES, JR.
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 48 months imprisonment
- May 21, 2009
WALLY MULERO
Distribution of Cocaine - 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) - 12 months imprisonment - May 21,
2009
ANTONIO DEMETRIS PETTY
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 48 months imprisonment
- June 19, 2009
ORAN ANDRE PETTY
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 48 months imprisonment
- December 16, 2009
THOMAS REYNOLDS
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 48 months imprisonment
- June 19, 2009
HERBERT LORENZO ROBERTS
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 46 months imprisonment
- December 16, 2009
LEROY SPANN
Unlawful Use of Communication Facility - 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) - 36 months imprisonment
- December 16, 2009
DONNA LEILANI THOMPSON
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 42 months imprisonment - December 14, 2009
DOMINIC MANUEL WILLIAMS
Conspiracy - 21 U.S.C. § 846 - 126 months imprisonment - December 7, 2009
DEA Atlanta’s SAC Benson encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.justthinktwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.
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