A Northfield, Ohio man made his initial appearance in federal court today after a federal grand jury sitting in Cleveland handed down a six-count indictment alleging that he participated in a conspiracy to send drug-infused letters to federal inmates at the Federal Correctional Institute in Edgefield, South Carolina (FCI Edgefield), in exchange for payments.
The indictment charges Frank GORDON III, age 64, of Northfield and Shawn GILREATH, age 45, a federal inmate at FCI Edgefield, with conspiracy to provide and possess prohibited objects in federal prison; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues; two counts of distribution of a controlled substance and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance analogue.
GORDON III entered a plea of not guilty to counts 1-6 of the indictment and was released on a $20,000 bond. GILREATH will have his initial appearance on March 23 before Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Parker.
The indictment alleges that GILRTEATH was a federal inmate incarcerated at FCI Edgefield, and from time to time, GORDON III would mail letters infused with controlled substances and controlled substance analogues, such as synthetic cannabinoids, to GILREATH and other inmates at FCI Edgefield in exchange for payments.
The indictment states that once a letter was received, it could be broken down into smaller pieces and ingested or distributed to other inmates.
According to the indictment, from March through December of 2020, GORDON III mailed a series of these drug-infused letters from the Northern District of Ohio addressed to GILREATH and other inmates at FCI Edgefield. Investigators seized and inspected these letters and found that that they contained detectable amounts of controlled substances and analogues. Each letter contained various photographs and bore a return address for GORDON III' s residence in the Northern District of Ohio.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.
In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum, and in most cases, it will be less than the maximum.
This case was investigated by Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force (NOLETF) and the Bureau of Prisons. Assistance was provided by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James P. Lewis.
The Link LonkFebruary 26, 2021 at 03:23AM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/two-men-charged-conspiracy-send-drug-infused-letters-inmates-federal-prison-south
Two men charged in a conspiracy to send drug-infused letters to inmates at a federal prison in South Carolina - Department of Justice
https://news.google.com/search?q=Send&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment