Six suspects from Houston were hauled in by federal agents, accused of operating a pharmacy-grade drug trafficking scheme. The group allegedly ran a stash house peddling substances like oxycodone and hydrocodone in the city's Fifth Ward, a charge that, if proven, carries substantial prison time, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Those arrested include Kerry Lewis Walker, 36, and Gerald Dewayne Williams, 65, accused of managing the illicit operation, with Trey Demon Neal, 34, and James Glen Turk, 21, aiding them. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, they're set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan for their initial hearings.
The indictment alleges Quineshia Evangeline Hollins, 33, to have been the crucial link to the pharmaceuticals through her ownership of First Choice Rx 245 pharmacy. Allegedly channeling drugs from her business to the streets, Hollins played a pivotal role in the scheme. Uzoanuuli Uzoaku WJ Payne, 52, a pharmacist at the same establishment, is accused of transporting controlled substances from the business front without lawful justification.
Charges pile up as law enforcement has purportedly caught Payne red-handed, moving a new shipment of the drugs designated for legal distribution but found displaced from their legitimate course. Thousands of pills from First Choice Rx 245 are unaccounted for, missing without the trace of prescriptions or the necessary paperwork to back their dispersion.
These arrests come on the heels of an operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration alongside the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces program. The crackdown targets high-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States with a multi-agency, intelligence-driven approach.
If found guilty of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, each member of the group faces a daunting sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison, not to mention the possibility of a $1,000,000 fine. For now, though, remember they are clothed in innocence until proven otherwise in a court of law, for an indictment is but an accusation and not the final nail in one's criminal coffin.
