13 members of alleged southeast Oklahoma drug ring indicted
Dec. 1—A federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment this week charging 13 defendants with conspiring together to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl in southeast Oklahoma.
Court records show three people from McAlester, Heath Lloyd Taylor, 44; Aaron Guy Key, 46; and Heather Leigh Brown, 32, were each indicted for one count of drug conspiracy.
Brown is also facing an additional two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, according to court documents.
Others indicted for drug conspiracy reside in Poteau, Spiro, Sallisaw, and Starr, South Carolina, according to court records.
According to the indictment, the group "knowingly and intentionally agreed and acted together jointly with other conspirators to advance the common goal of buying, selling, and otherwise possessing with intent to distribute and distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl."
Court documents state several locations and residences in southeast Oklahoma were maintained by the group to store and distribute the narcotics.
The indictment names Taylor as the person who allegedly directed several of his co-defendants to possess and distribute the narcotics as well as purchasing and maintaining locations for the storage and distribution of the narcotics "on his behalf."
Taylor also allegedly instructed co-defendants to travel to California to sell a pickup owned by Taylor, use the proceeds to purchase methamphetamine, and rent a vehicle to bring the methamphetamine back to Oklahoma, the indictment states.
According to the indictment, a total of nine kilograms of methamphetamine was purchased in California and returned to Oklahoma.
Court documents state the fentanyl was picked up in Oklahoma City and returned to southeast Oklahoma to be sold.
According to a press release by U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson, the charges arose from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force operation which "identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach."
The joint investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, working in cooperation with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
Additionally, several law enforcement agencies contributed at various stages of the investigation, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the District 16 Drug and Violent Crime Taskforce, the District 18 Drug and Violent Crime Taskforce, the Poteau Police Department, the Spiro Police Department, the Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police, the Seminole Police Department, the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Office, the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office, the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office, and the United States Marshals Service.
"The federal indictment was unsealed after members of a drug trafficking organization operating within the Eastern District of Oklahoma were arrested on federal warrants for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl," said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. "The arrests mark the culmination of a months-long multi-agency investigation. I want to thank each of the federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement officers for their many hours of work in this case. Illegal drugs continue to destroy lives every day, and the United States Attorney's Office remains committed to investigating and dismantling groups peddling poison in our communities."
