Two men from Pontiac are on the hook as part of a 15-member crew slapped with charges in a massive fentanyl trafficking ring in Tennessee. Todd M. Evans, 31, and Joshua M. Vanriette, 38, have been roped into a 19-count indictment with accusations ranging from conspiracy to distribute fentanyl to frying their hands in money laundering and firearms offenses.
The pair could be put away for a long time – we're talking a mandatory 20 years to life behind bars, if the jury buys what the prosecutors are selling. They haven't had their day in court yet, but come April 30, 2024, they'll get their chance to plea their case, as informed by FOX 2 Detroit.
They're not flying solo in this legal storm – the other defendants hail from all over Tennessee. The indictment, which was dished out by a federal grand jury in Knoxville, drags in characters from the age of 23 to a seasoned 70, all caught up in the same dragnet. Names like Gary L. Shadden, Henri L. Ewing, and others are tossed in a salad of charges that include handling meth and cocaine on top of that killer fentanyl.
A few of the accused are already strutting through the courthouse, with not guilty pleas locked and loaded, according to the Eastern District of Tennessee's announcement. The rest will get their turn to speak up or clam up. If lady justice decides to throw the book at them, some could face a cozy cell for 20 years to life, while others might catch a break with lighter stints.
Try as they might to plead the fifth, the FBI and ATF aren't buying what they're selling, having spearheaded the investigation that brought this cast of characters into the limelight. All this is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces' mission to cut off the head of the drug-trafficking hydra that's been rearing its ugly mugs in the United States.
