Last defendant sentenced to prison in extensive meth ring
Apr. 19—ALBANY — The seventy-ninth and final defendant connected to a major methamphetamine distribution ring supplying illegal drugs across the southeastern United States has been sentenced to serve 96 months in a federal prison.
Kim Wesley, 48, of Nashville, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leslie Gardner to prison to be followed by eight years of supervised release.
Wesley previously pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of methamphetamine and is one of the many defendants in the 2016 Boris Fuller methamphetamine distribution wiretap investigation. All 79 defendants have been charged, convicted and sentenced at the federal level. There is no parole in the federal system.
The Grady County Sheriff's Office and Cairo Police Department assisted in the investigation in the multi-jurisdictional case.
"It was a very long investigation," said Capt. Daniel Singletary, Grady sheriff's office chief investigator.
Grady and Cairo assisted in monitoring of wiretapping cell phone calls and texts.
Singletary said several people were arrested and search warrants executed in Cairo and unincorporated Grady County. Moultrie was the Southwest Georgia hub of the methamphetamine operation, he added.
Methamphetamine also was coming into Grady County and Florida, Singletary said.
"Everybody was working to reach a common goal to get the drugs and drug dealers off the streets, hold them accountable," the officer said.
The investigation to bring down a significant drug trafficking organization operating from a small Southwest Georgia community began four years ago, said Peter Leary, acting Middle District U.S. Attorney.
Between May 17, 2016, and Aug. 2, 2016, state and federal search warrants authorized investigators to obtain text messages and other electronic content from relevant cell phones.
"A review of the communications revealed the known leader of the methamphetamine distribution ring, Boris Fuller, 42, of Moultrie, and his co-conspirators were distributing approximately four pounds of methamphetamine a week to customers in Georgia, Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina," Leary said.
The communications also showed Fuller controlled a network of couriers traveling to Atlanta to acquire bulk quantities of methamphetamine.
Fuller was sentenced to serve 30 years in a federal prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release on Oct. 26, 2018, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine
Leary said authorities estimate an organization of 79 individuals regulated by Fuller was responsible for the distribution of more than 20 kilograms of methamphetamine in and around Moultrie from May until November 2016.
Grady County and Cairo law enforcement agencies joined the DEA, GBI, Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, Mid-South Narcotics Task Force, Colquitt, Crisp, Tift, Henry, Berrien, Cook and Leon County (Florida) sheriffs' offices, Volusia County (Florida) Bureau of Investigation and Moultrie Police Department in the investigation.
