Leader of Augusta-area drug trafficking ring sentenced to prison

Mike Lepp
·6 min read

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The final defendant in an Augusta-area drug trafficking conspiracy has been sentenced to over a decade in prison.

40-year-old Justin Wayne Fields of Swainsboro has been sentenced to 168 months in prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute Methamphetamine and Heroin.

“Justin Fields and his network conspired with a Georgia state prison inmate to facilitate methamphetamine and heroin shipments from Atlanta to Richmond and Emanuel Counties,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “The investigation and prosecution of this operation and a related conspiracy sent more than a dozen defendants to federal prison, removing their malign influence from our communities.”

Fields was charged along with nine others in October 2022, including:

  • Joshua Brooks Woodward, a/k/a “Jay Wood,” 30, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; and five counts of Use of a Communication Facility;

  • Elizabeth Sarah Hagan, 38, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; Possession of Methamphetamine; and four counts of Use of a Communication Facility;

  • Coley Alexander Greene, a/k/a “Henry Jones,” 30, of Wrens, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; and three counts of Use of a Communication Facility;

  • James Edmund Beasley, 34, of Grovetown, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin; and three counts of Use of a Communication Facility;

  • Cameron Ruth Young, 35, of Grovetown, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin; and Use of a Communication Facility;

  • David Marshall Hood, 45, of Kite, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; two counts of Distribution of Methamphetamine; Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine; and Use of a Communication Facility;

  • James Richard Faircloth, 39, of Swainsboro, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; five counts of Distribution of Methamphetamine; Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine; and three counts of Use of a Communication Facility;

  • Leann Nicole Faircloth, 39, of Swainsboro, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; and three counts of Distribution of Heroin; and,

  • Casey Alton Henry, 45, of Swainsboro, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine and an Amount of Heroin; two counts of Distribution of Methamphetamine; and Use of a Communication Facility.

And seven others in an April 2022 indictment:

  • Jayson Dwayne Wheatley, 41, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and an Amount of Heroin and Marijuana; Distribution of Heroin; Possession of 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; six counts of Use of a Communications Facility, relating to the use of Facebook Messenger and a cellphone to facilitate the conspiracy; and Possession of Ammunition by a Convicted Felon;

  • Jeffrey Mitchell Granade, 48, of Evans, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and an Amount of Heroin and Marijuana; Possession of 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; and Possession of Firearms by a Convicted Felon;

  • Steven Curtis Newman, 55, of Martinez, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and an Amount of Heroin and Marijuana; and Possession of 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine;

  • Richard Travis Bargeron, 41, of Augusta, currently an inmate at the Coffee County Correctional Facility, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and an Amount of Heroin and Marijuana; Possession of 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine; Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime; and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;

  • Alvin Wayne Snellgrove, 63, of Evans, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and an Amount of Heroin and Marijuana; Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute; and two counts of Use of a Communication Facility;

  • Heather Nicole Disher, 42, of Grovetown, Ga., charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and an Amount of Heroin and Marijuana; Possession of Methamphetamine; and three counts of Use of a Communications Facility; and,

  • Dana Alexander Rau, 48, of Augusta, charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute, and to Distribute, 500 Grams or More of a Mixture Containing a Detectable Amount of Methamphetamine, 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine, and an Amount of Heroin and Marijuana; Possession of Methamphetamine; Use of a Communications Facility, relating to the use of a cell phone to facilitate the conspiracy; and Possession of a Firearm by a User of Illegal Drugs.

MORE DETAILS: Augusta man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for role in drug trafficking operation

Of the 17 defendants in this case, 16 have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in the conspiracies.

The indictments came as a result of evidence gathered during the investigation in Operation Wheat Fields, which began in early 2018 and identified a pipeline of illegal drugs from Mexico routed through Atlanta and into the Augusta area.

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