North Augusta motorcycle gang member sentenced to 9 years after drug arrest in Grovetown
A member of a violent motorcycle gang recently was sentenced to nine years in federal prison after pleading guilty to trafficking methamphetamine.
Robert Lewis Coney Jr., 50, of North Augusta, was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. also ordered Coney to pay a fine of $2,000 and to serve five years of supervised release after completion of his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
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Coney’s co-defendant, Donnie Lee Curtis Jr., 37, of Tunnel Hill, was sentenced in September to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to the same offense.
“Violent crime in our communities all too often is fueled by drug traffickers, particularly those affiliated with criminal street gangs,” said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “Our streets are safer with felons like Coney and Curtis behind bars.”
Coney and Curtis were identified as methamphetamine traffickers during an investigation in 2021 initiated by the DEA. With assistance from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the two were arrested during a drug deal in the parking lot of a motel in Grovetown on May 19, 2021.
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While searching their vehicle and hotel rooms in Grovetown and Trenton, South Carolina, authorities seized large amounts of high-grade methamphetamine and multiple firearms.
Coney is affiliated with the Red Devils Motorcycle Gang, a support club of the Hell’s Angels. Curtis, a member of the white supremacist Aryan Brotherhood criminal street gang, was identified as Coney’s source of supply for the illegal drugs.
“These notorious gang-related drug dealers distributed poison to the community and caused fear through means of violence and intimidation,” said Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “DEA and its law enforcement partners disrupted and dismantled this once-thriving criminal network which ultimately led to lengthy prison sentencings.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: North Augusta gang member sentenced to federal prison after meth deal
