A 35-year-old Milledgeville man was sentenced to 260 months in federal prison this week for his role in a methamphetamine ring that funneled drugs from Atlanta hotel rooms into Baldwin County, while a codefendant received 48 months for her part in the same conspiracy. Desmond Glenn and Katherine Short-Barcenas were sentenced on August 12 for roles in a drug trafficking operation that transported methamphetamine from Atlanta to Milledgeville, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Glenn's sentence includes 10 years of supervised release following his prison term, while Short-Barcenas, 36, received 48 months followed by five years of supervised release, as reported by WSB-TV. Glenn pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Short-Barcenas pleaded guilty in December to one count of distribution of methamphetamine.
How Federal Agents Built the Case
Federal agents began investigating the Baldwin County distribution network in early 2023, and the station's report details how agents recorded Glenn completing four controlled purchases of methamphetamine between April 25 and July 31, 2023, buying roughly 162 grams of meth before moving to search warrants and highway stops that November. Short-Barcenas and codefendant Cory Wilson sold methamphetamine twice to a confidential source in early March 2023, per the same account. Glenn is accused of obtaining large amounts of methamphetamine from several sources and selling meth and other controlled substances in Baldwin County.
The investigation culminated on November 14, 2023, when Rodney May and Tony Baker traveled with Glenn to an Atlanta hotel, where ring leader Ruby Fogg had told Glenn to pick up methamphetamine from Robert Matthew Wood. On the return trip, law enforcement officers stopped the vehicle and found nearly one kilogram of methamphetamine inside a bag, along with a smaller amount of meth on the floorboard. Officers also located one firearm between Glenn's seat and the center console and another firearm in the backseat. Glenn was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a prior Baldwin County robbery-by-force conviction.
Search of Glenn's Home Turns Up More Drugs and Guns
A search warrant executed at Glenn's Milledgeville home yielded 64.68 grams of methamphetamine and five firearms in his bedroom. Two days after the traffic stop, on November 16, 2023, law enforcement officers arrested Fogg and Wood at their rented hotel room, seizing 154.97 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Fogg and Wood had worked together to obtain and distribute methamphetamine, renting hotel rooms in Atlanta to store and sell narcotics, and Fogg traveled to Jackson, Georgia, on the day of the traffic stop to deliver drug proceeds, according to the Justice Department's account carried by WSB-TV.
The federal prosecution falls under Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative that combines resources from Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods to target armed drug trafficking networks, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia. The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office.
Ring Leader Faces Georgia Prison Before Federal Term Begins
Fogg, who led the criminal network, pleaded guilty to conspiracy on June 10 and was sentenced that day to 324 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release. She had three prior felony methamphetamine distribution convictions in Douglas County Superior Court. Per 13WMAZ, Fogg is currently serving a state prison sentence in Georgia tied to those Douglas County convictions and is set for release in 2027, after which she will begin serving her 324-month federal sentence.
Wood was sentenced the same day, June 10, to 262 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Baker received 92 months in prison and three years of supervised release for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Three other codefendants have now been sentenced in federal court in connection with the investigation.
More Sentencing Dates Still Ahead
Two additional codefendants still have sentencing dates scheduled after pleading guilty. Cory Wilson pleaded guilty on July 20 to distribution of methamphetamine and faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 10 years up to life in federal prison, along with a fine of up to $10 million, at his sentencing scheduled for October 14. Rodney May pleaded guilty on December 17, 2025, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years up to life in prison and up to a $20 million fine at his sentencing, set for May 12, 2027.
Under federal law, drug cases originating in Baldwin County are adjudicated in the Macon Division of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, where sentences are served without parole eligibility, unlike Georgia state prison terms that are governed by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, according to The Local Alert. That distinction helps explain why Fogg's federal 324-month term looms as a far longer real-time confinement than her existing state sentence.
Acting U.S. Attorney and DEA Officials React
Acting U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes said his office is grateful to law enforcement partners for their efforts to protect neighborhoods, adding that his office is committed to working with law enforcement to dismantle armed drug trafficking organizations and hold threats to public safety accountable. DEA Atlanta Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jae W. Chung said the prison sentences and guilty pleas reflect the defendants' danger and the harm caused by methamphetamine distribution, noting that drug trafficking organizations bring guns, violence and instability into neighborhoods.
A Recurring Target for Federal Drug Pipelines
This is not the first time Milledgeville has been the endpoint of a major methamphetamine supply chain. In April, federal prosecutors in the Middle District of Georgia sentenced cartel supplier Noe Canela to 260 months for supplying over 17,000 grams of methamphetamine to a separate 20-defendant Milledgeville trafficking ring led by Jarvis Havior, as Hoodline previously reported. In June 2024, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Middle Georgia Gang Task Force, and the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office arrested 10 people in a separate joint crackdown targeting Milledgeville drug trafficking and gang activity, seizing firearms, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Industry data compiled by Accredited Drug Testing indicates Baldwin County has experienced a drug overdose death rate reaching 20 per 100,000 residents in recent years, alongside a 15 percent increase in local methamphetamine-related arrests. Those figures underscore why federal and local agencies have repeatedly returned their focus to the small central Georgia county, even as this latest case continues to work its way through sentencing for the remaining defendants.
