Twelve charged in alleged methamphetamine conspiracy

MACON – A newly unsealed federal indictment charges a dozen defendants with allegedly participating in a methamphetamine manufacturing and trafficking conspiracy operating out of a 10-acre property in Walton County.

According to the indictment and an accompanying search warrant, as well as statements made public in court, a federal search warrant was executed at 2370 Mountain Creek Church Road in Monroe as part of a joint law enforcement operation in which officers seized a total of 4,346 grams. of “finished” crystal methamphetamine, 22 gallons of liquid methamphetamine (approximately equivalent to 377 kilograms of finished crystal methamphetamine) and $5,401.

A federal search warrant was also executed on a Chevrolet Traverse occupied by Yuretzi Gomez, Yirla Gomez, Rafael Gomez and Uriel Garcia, during which agents seized 1,046 grams of methamphetamine and $4,350 in cash. Additionally, officers seized 4,523 grams of methamphetamine in a Camaro occupied by Jared Calhoun and Ebony Jones-Tate.

The following defendants charged in the indictment will make their initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles H. Weigle on November 4:

James Len Ramey, 52, of Comer, is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine.

The following defendants charged in the indictment made their first appearances before Weigle:

– Christopher Hyatt, 44, of LaGrange is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

— Kendell Cawthon, 59, of Baldwin is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

— Bonterris Turner, 44, of Athens is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

— Demetrius Appling, 36, of Crawford is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

– Andrea Robinson, 44, of Cleveland, Georgia, is charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine;

– Yuretzi Adame Gomez, 39, of Mexico, is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

– Yirla Adame Gomez, 24, of Mexico, is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

— Rafael Gomez Flores, 21, of Mexico, is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

– Uriel Garcia, 32, of Mexico, is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

— Jared Calhoun, 32, of Birmingham, Alabama, is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the suspect faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine;

Ebony Jones-Tate, 32, of Birmingham, Alabama, is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Middle Georgia Safe Streets Gang Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Morrison is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.