Drug ring delivered 265 pounds of cocaine to O’Fallon. Its leader is headed to prison.

Ahmad Lathan
·2 min read
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The leader of a Houston-based cocaine distribution ring was sentenced this week to serve 30 years in federal prison for trafficking about 265 pounds of the drug to O’Fallon.

Samuel Ruben Caraway, 46, had pleaded guilty in March in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois. He is the last of nine members of the ring to be sentenced for trafficking more than $4 million worth of cocaine to five states, with stops in St. Louis and O’Fallon, according to court documents.

A federal investigation into Caraway’s ring led to the seizure of $1.2 million dollars in cash and $72,000 in jewelry, court records say.

Caraway was arrested in July 2021 after more than three years on the run, the charges state.

The nine-member group frequently transported large amounts of drugs and cash across state lines.

In November of 2015, according to court documents, Caraway transported more than 81 pounds of cocaine toward St. Louis and Indianapolis using the spare tires of rental cars.

Three other members, Terrance Miles and Victor Johnson, were arrested in the parking lot of the St. Louis Galleria with more than $600,000 split between two vehicles rented by Victor Johnson. Police also confiscated a black suitcase from Dana Bell that contained about $500,000 in cash, 2 kg of cocaine and personal items belonging to Rodney Smith, another ring member.

In all, Caraway and his eight accomplices distributed more than $4 million dollars worth of cocaine in Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Georgia, according to the federal court records.

Others sentenced included Jamie Green (262 months), Johnson (188 months), Sammy Monroe (168 months), Astin Allison (151 months), Smith (147 months), Miles (121 months), Bell (87 months), and Nahum Shibeshi (48 months).

The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force led the investigation which focuses on targeting and dismantling national and international drug trafficking organizations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Steven D. Weinhoeft and David D. Dean.