Nine charges added to region’s ‘largest-ever federal drug trafficking prosecution’ in Charlottesville

Odyssey Fields
·2 min read

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WFXR) — The United States Attorney has announced that a second superseding indictment has leveled nine additional charges against some of the 19 people, who were charged in a federal drug trafficking investigation from 2023.

The first indictment from August 2023, accused 17 people of being a part of a large-scale drug conspiracy that distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in and around the Charlottesville region. In September of 2023, two more people were added to the superseding indictment.

ORIGINAL REPORT: 19 arrested after federal drug trafficking takedown in Charlottesville

The Department of Justice (DOJ) reports that the second indictment alleges that at the beginning of February 2023, until the date of the indictment, the defendants conspired with each other and others to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute over 500 grams of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in and around the Charlottesville region.

The document shows that nine new charges were added to the indictment and asks for the seizure of 25 firearms, ammunition, and over $70,000.

The DOJ says Landon Devon Fields, Bobby Eugene Christmas, Dashard Brown, Brooks Lorenzo Woodfolk, Norman Eugene Goins, Jr., and Laqueshia Chanice Burges were each charged with one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. However, Fields, Christmas, and Woodfolk were also charged with the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Additionally, the DOJ says Fields, Christmas, Brown, and Woodfolk, were charged with new drug distribution offenses.

Others charged include:

  • DuShaun Lamont Gregory, 36, of Henrico, Virginia.

  • Tyquane Pertell Gregory, 27, of Charlottesville, Virginia.

  • Michael Edward Cornett, 29, of Charlottesville, Virginia.

  • Antone Laron Harris, 41, of Charlottesville, Virginia.

  • Ashlee Renee Morris, 37, of Barboursville, Virginia.

  • Shaheem Taishaun Michie, 18, of Arlington, Virginia.

  • John Ellis Turner III, 42, of Charlottesville, Virginia.

  • Gary Wayne Woodson, 66, of Crozet, Virginia.

  • Cedric Trent, 25, of Charlottesville, Virginia.

  • Dustin Lee Welch, 34, of Dillwyn, Virginia.

This is the region’s largest-ever federal drug trafficking prosecution, according to officials.

The DOJ says the investigation, extradition, and conviction of the defendants is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. The force identifies and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launders, gangs, and criminal organizations that threaten the United States.

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